Something Old, Something New
by Varewulf
Summary: I awaken. Where am I? Who am I? What am I? --- Final Chapter Up, Finished
1. Something old, something new

A/N: Here I start this story. I had a hard time finding a title for it, so the one I chose probably sucks. This is a little test story to see if anyone likes it. Have fun.

Disclaimer: I don't own Legacy of Kain (sadly), but the OC is all mine! :p

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**Chapter 1**

      I awaken.

      It's dark.

      My eyes open.

      It's still dark.

      My hands start feeling around.

      Where am I?

      What happened?

      My mind's so… foggy. Hard to think, hard to remember.

      I hear a splash. I lie still.

      Someone walking around, they drop something.

      After a while, there's another splash. It's gone.

      My hands start searching again.

      I seem to be in some sort of sack, or bag. No, I'm not. It feels wrong.

      Who am I?

      My hands… have claws?

      What am I?

      I use the claws to slash open the "sack". It seems to be a cocoon.

      Light, there's light. Not much light, but light still.

      Have I transformed?

      What was I? What have I become?

      I sit up, and examine my hands.

      They have claws. My skin is… strange.

      I look around. There are several lumps around. Some are cocooned, and some are not.

      Are those bodies?

_      Spawning pit._ The word comes to my head. This is a vampire spawning pit.

      How do I know that? Does this mean I'm a vampire?

      I'm not sure how long I sit there, but after a while, there's another splash.

      My head turns to see what made the sound, and then I see it.

      A vampire. _Rahabim__._ The word comes to mind, and I know it to be true. It's a Rahabim vampire. With the word comes more information. The Rahabim are the only aquatic vampires. The rest of their kind shuns water like the plague.

      My body starts moving on its own. My mind still foggy and confused, I just watch what happens.

      The Rahabim spots me and seems surprised to see me, confusion following. Despite the dim light, I still see this as clear as day.

      Not sure what to do, it takes a defensive stance as my body walks slowly towards it. The streamlined physique of these shark-vampires makes them excellent swimmers, if a bit awkward on land.

      Suddenly, my body leaps with extreme speed, extends my claws and tears the vampire apart, and afterwards sucks in the vampire's life essence. The sensation is ecstatic and frightening all at once.

      When I'm finished, the vampire crumbles to dust. It only managed a surprised look before I reached it. It didn't even have time to scream, if vampires scream, that is.

      My mind still horrified by what I did, so my body keeps control for the time being.

      It leaps into the water and quickly goes for the surface.

      My mind blacked out, and didn't come back before I had reached the surface and gotten away from the Rahabim territory.

      Dawn is breaking. Sunlight hits my body, and it's terribly bright, but it doesn't burn me.

      I guess this means I'm no vampire, at least not a regular one.

      I need to rest, get my bearings, and try to regain the rest of my memory. My body understands this, and gives back control to the mind.

      I stumble, but manage not to fall. I look around. There are some hills over there, perhaps I could find a cave. I half-run/half-walk over there, and I do find a cave, but it's not vacant. I find two vampires down there.

_      Dumahim._ Not the brightest of vampires, but rather strong, so I have to be careful. I try to sneak up on them, but I'm only half-way before one of them notices me. It alerts the other, and they both face me. Confusion shows in their faces as well, meaning I'm new to them.

      What am I?

      I test my claws before attacking. I underestimated my abilities, and I leap over and past them. I turn in time to see them advancing in on me. Trying to be more careful this time, I leap again. I land right in front one of them, and nearly collide with it. It seems surprised by this, and so am I, but I recover quickly and slash upwards with my claws. I can feel it has tougher skin than the Rahabim, but I still manage to slash through and incapacitate it.

      Instinctively I slash round backwards and behead the other vampire.

      I stand there surprised a few moments before my body compels me to suck in their life essences.

      Once again I feel ecstasy and horror and the same time.

      What am I?

      When I'm finished, these vampires crumble to dust as well.

      After that, I sit down and start to think.

      A/N: This is my second fanfic ever, so I apologize if it sucks. I thought up this story long ago, and only now I write it down. I like the idea of an original character added to the Nosgoth madness. J If you don't like it, I want you tell me. Also, I want to know if you think I should continue the story, what kind of person my character was when he/she was human, and what you want me to include in future chapters. I won't guarantee I'll do everything you say, but I will consider it. So please review.

      PS! I liked Marina's idea, so I'm also giving Raziel a free soul for every ten reviews. ;)


	2. Small beginnings

Disclaimer: I don't own Legacy of Kain or Nosgoth. I only have my little OC.

A/N: I didn't plan on updating so soon, but inspiration came to me (while I was watching – believe it or not – Britney Spears' new video 'Everytime') and I felt compelled to write.

First of all, I actually got reviews. I'm shocked. Pleasantly shocked, but shocked still. My story seems to have trouble appearing on the site, and I was only able to find by changing some of the viewing options at the top. Strange. Seems to be fixed now though. Well, onwards: Review responses.

Smoke: I guess confusion was the point. Plus I was trying to be a bit mysterious. Maybe that didn't work for you, or maybe I'm hopeless. As for your suggestions, I'm not sure what you mean. I need a better explanation, sorry. And the how and why: I'm not sure myself about the how, it just happens. This is supposed to be a mystery, and even I don't have all the answers. Why is easier. The mind is in a state of shock, so the body acts on instinct of self-preservation.

VladimirsAngel: You've become one of my favourite authors lately, and you might have noticed I've reviewed several of your stories. I'm honoured you bothered to read my fic and actually review it. I'm not worthy! And we're all hoping Raziel will be kept well-fed, don't we? Every little bit helps. J But my English isn't the best, so I have to look up protagonist to see what it means, but it sounds fun.

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**Chapter 2: Small beginnings**

Late in the afternoon, I finally decided to step out of the cave. My memories were still largely unaccounted for, but a few had come back to me. I remember how I died.

I was out fishing. It was a foolish endeavour and I shouldn't have, but we needed food. I can't remember who "we" are or were though. My family, probably. I thought the little lake to be safe, and I knew there were fish there. I had a fishing rod that I had made my self. I sat there for a while, not getting any fish. I guess that should have been a clue, but I just thought my rod was poor. Then I could feel something pulling at the line, and I was overjoyed, I remember, at least for a second. When I started to pull back, I was drawn into the water. I couldn't see anything for all the bubbles, bet I felt the cold. Then, something grabbed me, and then there was pain, and darkness.

As I look out across the clouds that blanket the sky, the sun only breaking through in small areas, and then quickly disappearing again, I can another memory stirring. These are not natural clouds. The vampires have some sort of factory, producing smoke to block out the sun, so the fledglings and Rahabim can move about during the day. In some cruel, or perhaps just, twist of irony, the sky often clears around the drowned abbey, sending the sun's burning rays down on the Rahabim. They seem to be safe in the water, but can't come up on land during the day.

The only other memory I have recovered, is a vague one about some joyous event, which was triggered by the sight of the Dumahim earlier. My memory's still pretty much shattered, so I've decided to seek out the answers around this land. Perhaps the sights can invoke more memories.

I set out in a calm pace, which is rather quick with this body. I spent hours studying it, trying to discover how to control it, make it react. Having no mirror, I used my hands to fell around. Despite coming from a Rahabim spawning pit, I have little in common with the Rahabim. My head seems more human in proportion, and neither hands nor feet are webbed. I wouldn't exactly call my body streamlined either, but it is slim, yet muscular. My skin has a pale grey-brown colour, matching the landscape. It seems to be rather hard, or at least tough. I tried to pierce it with my claws, and that took effort, but not too much.

I have five fingers on each hand, with extendable claws. I also found fangs, which I discovered could also be extended. Does this make me a sort of vampire, then? If I am, I'm not like any I've seen so far. I wonder how much time passed between my death and my… "resurrection".

My feet can also extend claws, something a kick test taught me. A nice addition in battle, but another quick test showed they didn't appear to have any other use, but perhaps that's still to be discovered.

Overall, I seem to be made into some sort of killing machine. A scary thought. And I think made is the right word. How can I be natural? But then… who made me?

The landscape seems awfully devoid of life. What sort of place is this? _Nosgoth__._ The word comes so suddenly, I stop dead in my tracks. A faint breeze caresses my cheek, as I try to remember more. This is, indeed, Nosgoth. Once a beautiful land, at least that's what I've been told, now a wasteland, more or less. I wonder who told me this, I have no recollection of anyone. I can remember it being a wasteland for as long as I've lived, at least I think so. But I do believe this memory to be true. There is something else there, floating at the edges, but as I try to concentrate on it, it flows away.

I continue my journey, only stopping once in a while to see if I recognize something. Judging by what I've seen of the sun, I'm travelling to the north. It's starting to get dark again now, though. I can remember some basic layout of the land, and I think there is a swamp due north. Perhaps I'll find something of interest there? I walk up a hill, testing my jumping skills on some nearby rocks. Despite a few crashes (ouch) and overshoots I think I'm getting better. Do all vampires have such insane jump capabilities? And I suppose I am a vampire, at least of a sort. I'm just hunting other vampires instead of humans.

As I come across the ridge, I see movement, and my thoughts are interrupted. I focus on the moving object, and I see it's a wagon. Thanks to my now-extreme eyesight, I can see the animals pulling it and the humans sitting on top of it. There also seems to be a couple walking beside, and I would imagine a similar couple on the other side. They are travelling through this small valley, going somewhere in the direction I came from, it seems. I start plotting a course around them, so I'm not seen. I wouldn't want to frighten them, after all, but suddenly I sense something.

It's from across the valley, on the other ridge. What is it… there! I see movement, something coming over the ridge. Vampires. They must be after the humans. I start moving myself, towards the vampires. I pick up speed quickly, silently wondering how fast I can actually go. Very fast, it seems. I'm down in the valley and going up the other hill within seconds. The humans have spotted me, they cry out a warning. "Vampire!" Then they seem to notice the vampires on the ridge. "More of them, up there!" I hear them shout. I run by close enough to hear them draw their weapons, but I don't look at them, my focus being solely on the vampires. I can see them more clearly now. Five, no six of them. Large, muscular bodies, more Dumahim? No, these are different, they have larger ears. They look strangely at me, then one of them extends it's arms in front of it, then I hear a strange sound, nearly like a whump, and I barely notice the air between me and the vampire rippling slightly before something hits me.

I'm tossed several meters down the hill, but as I hit the ground again, I roll to my feet and stare at the creature angrily. _Turelim._ The word appears in my mind like the others, and the memories that go with it. These are the strongest type of vampire, loyal to a fault to their vampire lord Turel, who in turn is loyal to Kain. I can feel more memories stirring at the mention of Kain, but I ignore them for the time being. These vampires in front of me believe in order above all else and follow orders to the letter. Despite this, they can be quite cunning at times. They are sizably larger then any of the other vampires, including Dumahim, and they have the ability, as I just experienced, to fire telekinetic blasts.

In anger and on pure instinct, I myself extend my arms in similar fashion to the vampire and I feel myself firing a blast of air. The vampires have meanwhile ignored me and continued going after the humans. I hit one of them, but it's hardly affected. It seems a bit surprised, though, and turns it's to regard me as I run up the hill once more. Once again, the vampire extends his arms to deliver another blast. This time though, I'm ready. As I hear the whump sound once more, I dart quickly to the left. I can feel the blast going past me, and I feel pleased. Then I remember I haven't really thought about what I'm going to do once I reach them, and I consider that blindly attacking six Turelim might not be the smartest idea I've ever had.

Before the surprised Turelim can fire another blast, I've reached the group. I extend my claws and do a downward slash at the back of the nearest of them. It sees my too late, and due to the power I put into the slash I feel myself piercing it's skin and slashing down his spine. It cries out in pain and spins around, the back wound starts healing instantaneously. Using my momentum, I dig my claws into the shoulder of another and I do spinning kick, still attached to the vampire, which decapitates the one that tried to blast me. And there, my luck leaves me. I get punched in the ribs by the one I attached myself to, and I'm sent tumbling along the ground. I try to flip myself up on my feet, but a sharp kick keeps me down as I feel two of my ribs breaking. I'm sent rolling till I stop with my back up. Another comes over and steps on me to keep me down. I get a few more kicks before the one standing on me suddenly cries out and falls forward with a crossbow bolt sticking out from the back of his head.

The humans seem to have gotten their long-range weaponry and have started firing upon the vampires. The other Turelim pause briefly and I use that pause to push myself off the ground. Crossbow bolts fly through the air, but since they can't seriously hurt a vampire, the Turelim kept their focus on me. I managed to kick one of them in the abdomen shortly before biting another in the thigh and ripping loose a rather large chunk. Then the largest of them is able to grab hold of me from behind in a bear hug, and it starts crushing me. I try to struggle free, but alas, I'm not strong enough. I can feel a couple of bolts hit him in the side, but it doesn't seem to affect him. Suddenly I feel something shoot from my back, and there is a slashing noise and then I'm suddenly free. I turn around to see what happened, and I see the Turelim cleaved in two. I don't get the chance to ponder what happened before I feel a slash across my back. The power of the slash sends me once again to the ground. It's the one who got hit in the head with a bolt who has recovered. It tries to repeat its trick of standing upon me, but this time I catch its leg between my own and send it down. As it hits the ground, I quickly slash my claws at its neck and cuts off its head.

With three of them dead, I'm able to finish off the last two quickly, especially since both of them were still recovering from injuries. I get hit by a couple of bolts in the process, but once the vampires are dead the humans stop shooting. The bolts don't hurt me much anyways. They quickly move forward to get away as I drain the five vampires and watch them crumble to dust. I can feel my strength returning to me. No, not only returning, increasing. The rush is indescribable. Yet some part of me still feels repulsed at having to do this. The adrenaline starts to wear off and I'm able to calm down. Then suddenly I remember. There were six vampires. Where is the last? I try to see if I remember it going leaving, but I can't say I do. I look around, but I see no trace of it. It couldn't have teleported away, since these were all fledglings, except the one I cleaved in two. I try to pick up its scent, or something, and I find that I can smell (or perhaps feel is a better word) it. It went west, away from the humans. I decide to follow it as I bring up the memories I awakened, those about Kain.

A/N: And here I end this chapter. Got a bit long, perhaps. And maybe boring as well. I hope you bear with me. The first chapter was really more of a test chapter, anyways. I can't say if future chapters will be as long as this, or maybe longer, I don't know. I'm still looking for ideas as to who my OC (my protagonist, I looked it up J ) used to be as a human, and what sort of adventures he/she might tangle himself/herself into in the future. And feel free to ask questions. Please review.

PS! Raziel still gets a free soul for every ten reviews.


	3. Seat of power

Disclaimer: I do not own Legacy of Kain; it belongs to Eidos and Crystal Dynamics. The OC is mine though. J

Warning: This chapter is written during high sugar influence and little sleep.

A/N: I'm on a roll. I can't stop writing. I won't bother to wait for five reviews, or something like that. I'm deeply satisfied I got three for my last chapter. I'm still kind of amazed anyone actually reviews. I'm honoured. bows Anyways, this chapter will go on until I find it appropriate to stop. J

Onwards to the review responses.

Smoke: I'm glad you liked it. You can probably expect more of the sort. I babble even when I write.

VladimirsAngel: Nonsense, you're extremely worthy. I just hope I can live up to future expectations.

Kangaroo Joe: What?! Leave the cats alone, or I will hunt you down! I will tolerate no cat hurting as long as I'm alive. Ehm… Sorry, got a bit carried away. Anyway, your review. Did I mention Raziel? I guess I can say this is before his return, without ruining too much. May peace and love be with you too, and may all cats come to me. J

**Chapter 3: Seat of power**

Kain is the vampire lord. I remember from when I was young, that I was sitting on the floor in some house, maybe my own, listening to an old man, my grandfather perhaps, telling stories of how Kain rose to power. Apparently, the Sarafan were ruling Nosgoth under a strict iron rule, trying to rid the land of vampires. They weren't exactly the heroes of the people, raising taxes and abducting men, women and children when they felt like it. Then something happened. The old man wasn't so sure about the details, as this was very long ago, but somehow the vampires were able to stop the Sarafan, and break up the order. The people were glad, but only for a short while. Kain was leading the vampires, and Nosgoth now came under his rule. The people of Nosgoth had just lost one evil to gain another.

And then there was some disagreement about which was worse, the Sarafan or the vampires, so the humans were split. Some went off to celebrate and worship the vampires, while others fortified their cities and villages, hoping to keep the vampires out. Many just wanted to live in peace, so they did neither, and tried to keep living their lives normally. The vampires started raiding and conquering all over Nosgoth, looking for territory, slaves and food. Accounts from this time were sketchy at best, so what and how it happened are debated. What is known, is that the humans didn't stand much chance.

Kain and his vampire lieutenants quickly gained control of the land, lakes and rivers being the only thing to hinder their progress. They employed boats, however, so not even island communities were quite safe. Some were able to sink the vampires' boats, and were safe for several hundred years, until the Rahabim developed their water resistance.

Now, only the villages and cities under the vampires' mercy exist, apart for a few strongholds the vampires either haven't found, haven't been able to penetrate or haven't bothered with. Kain's five lieutenants have divided the land between them, and rarely move outside their territory. I remember some rumours about a sixth lieutenant, who was executed for treason several centuries ago, but since accounts from that time are rather sketchy, as I said, it is unsure if this is true or not.

My thoughts are interrupted as four vampires suddenly spring from the ground. I've been following the fleeing Turelim for about half an hour now, still not seeing it. I can still feel it though. I however didn't expect vampires to jump out the ground. I had been walking through a pass between two cliffs. I guess I should have expected an ambush. I must have been too deep in thought to sense them. The four of them have me surrounded, and as one, they pounce. I am able to dodge out of the way and examine these vampires more carefully. They seem like little more than rotting hulks of flesh, barely holding together. _Melchiahim._ Ah yes, the memory flows to mind. The weakest of the vampire kind, needing to steal skin and flesh from the people they kill. Their lord Melchiah is loyal to Kain more out of fear than anything else. Despite being the weakest vampire, they are still more than a match for the average human, though. Too bad for them I'm no longer human.

They try to attack once again. They are a bit to slow for me, so I dodge to the side and extend my leg in a spinning kick, cutting the nearest vampire in half. The others hesitate for a moment, giving me the opportunity to attack. I dash between two of them, extending my arms to the side and ripping off their heads. The last one quickly burrows underground. However, I'm ready for it this time, so when it appears right behind me, I spin around and slash upwards to the left, the power behind the slash tearing off half the vampire's torso and its head. Not much of a challenge, but I didn't expect much from these fragile creatures. I absorb their essences as well, the sweet ecstasy going to my head, and this time, something strange happens. I can feel my claws changing, ever so subtly.

I watch in fascination as the claws on my hands and feet become slightly more hooked and just a tad thicker, giving them the ability to rip a little, as well as slice. As I wonder why this happened, I think of the Melchiahim. Their special ability is burrowing. For that they would need claws that can rip though the earth. I think of the implications. Since absorbing Melchiahim essence gives me claws that seem more like theirs, I think that would imply that any vampire essence I absorb transfers a bit of them to me, giving me a little piece of their power. If this is true, then draining enough vampires should give me their powers to the full extent. This could be interesting.

I test my new claws on the dirt below, but they're still not quite right for digging or burrowing. Now for what's troubling me. These vampires seemed to be waiting for me. That's rather odd, as this route doesn't seem to be travelled by humans, so it couldn't have been random. And the odds of the fleeing Turelim just meeting these vampires seem small. I suppose it could have known they were in the area and sought them out, but the route it has chosen seems too straight and goal-oriented to have taken any detours. Then maybe this was a guard post? A vague memory surfaces, something about the possibility that vampires have alternate means of communicating. It's too fleeting to get a hold of, sadly, but maybe there is something to that hypothesis. It certainly seems like a likely scenario, considering the circumstances, but then why is it fleeing?

I continue my pursuit as I consider this. I assumed it escaped to report to its superiors, but if it can communicate through other means than speech, it wouldn't need to see them in person. But perhaps this other communication would have made it vulnerable for attack or something. I'm not sure. It probably figured the Melchiahim wouldn't stop me, only slow me down. If that was the case, I guess their mission's accomplished. It got further ahead, so it might escape, but at least I can see where it goes. I'm not quite sure where it could be going, but a slight stirring tells me a memory is simmering beneath the surface. I'm unable to call on it however. Damn, maybe it's helpful.

The next quarter of an hour pass without incident. The land seems to get even more barren, even though I didn't think it possible, the longer I travel in this direction. Then, surprisingly, I see a tree. Cautiously, I approach it. Yes it is a tree. Completely dead though, and it nearly turns to dust as I touch it, but somehow, it still stands. Some sort of defiance, maybe. As I feel around the trunk, I remember a memory from my human days. Near where I lived, there was a tree somewhat like this. Dead, but still standing. I remember I used to climb it, just for fun. A woman, my mother I think, got mad because she was afraid the limbs would snap off and I'd fall and hurt myself. I remember just laughing and climbing higher. The limbs didn't break.

The memory touches something inside me. A sad longing. Will I ever laugh again? What about my mother, and my father? Are they alive? Will I see them again? Will they want to see me, when I look like this? I feel my heart sinking as I ponder this. Is there really any point in battling these vampires? Then a thought springs to mind. Can I speak? I still haven't tried talking, as I haven't found anyone to talk to. Except the vampires, of course, and those humans who ran away, but I doubt they would talk to me. At least not yet. As for the vampires, I haven't even tried to talk to them, have I? I've just attacked. What kind of cold-blooded monster have I become, to not even consider conversation before fighting?

I attempt to say a few words, but find that I have forgotten how. I concentrate, and I hear myself making slight noises. Feeling encouraged, I want to try again, but then I feel silly when I can't think of anything I would like to say. I suddenly think that I could try asking the questions I have to myself vocally, to see if I trigger any response. I start by asking: "Who am I?" At least that was the idea. What comes out sounds more like: "whmaa?" Still, it's a start. After I few more attempts, I'm able to say: "Who'mi?" in a very hoarse voice. I can feel the strain on my throat, but I can't, no I won't, stop. Another minute and I'm finally able to say: "Who am I?", but my voice still sounds like my throat has been through a grinder. It doesn't seem to help in recovering my memory though. Disappointed, I try to run through a couple of other questions, such as "What am I?" and "Where do I come from?" but still no response. My disappointment grows, and rather crestfallen I decide to continue my pursuit once more. At least I found out I'm still able to speak.

As I walk on, no longer finding the resolve to go fast, I see a small hill in front of me. I scale it slowly and peer over the ridge. There I see the strangest view. A large building, some kind of keep perhaps, with massive gates that no human could ever open. I see several vampires patrolling or standing guard outside, Dumahim and Turelim mostly, although these seem bigger than the others I've seen. A small memory surfaces to tell me these are Warrior type vampires. Larger and stronger than fledglings, these are the most common type of vampire besides the fledglings. They have also matured enough to resist the sun's cruel rays. The Turelim that grabbed me earlier was also Warrior, I realize. The scent of the one I was following goes inside

As I direct my gaze back to back the stronghold, I wonder what's inside. Then suddenly, the memory that has been stirring flies to the surface. This is the Sanctuary of the Clans. The main vampire stronghold. Here, Kain has his throne, and whenever the vampire lieutenants meet, they come here. A neutral ground for them, where they can discuss differences without physical fight. At least that's what my memory tells me, but it also tells me that the lieutenants haven't been seen going to a meeting there in ages. It might be they have other means of travel, or that the human scouts have just been unable to notice it, but from what I can remember, I heard several stories from the elderly that something changed some hundred years ago. Whatever it was, it drove a wedge between the lieutenants, making cooperation between them less frequent, and Turel and Dumah started challenging the others for territory, while Zephon, Rahab and Melchiah retreated into their territories, rarely to be seen again. How do I know these names? They sound alien, yet familiar. Maybe it was common where I came from to learn as much about the vampires as possible?

But I also heard stories that there is more in there. Since no known human has ever entered and come out again, none were sure what. But they figured it was something more in there, a source of corruption, most likely, but whatever it is, it seems to have been lost to the tides of history. I doubt that I'll ever be able to enter this place, so I probably won't find out, unless… A horrible thought springs to mind. Unless I draw the information from a vampire by means of torture. Now where did this come from? I can't deny it would be invaluable to obtain some inside information, but torture? I hope I won't have to, but I might at least try to persuade or threaten some information from a vampire. But that would mean capturing a vampire, and having somewhere to hold it. But where would I find that?

All these thoughts almost make me forget I nearly lost my purpose, but then I consider I maybe never had one, but now I do. I'll do what I can to make life better for the humans of Nosgoth, and it seems killing vampires might be my only contribution. But first, I need a place to stay. And I should try to make myself stronger as well. But for now, I'll leave this place as I can do no more here. Wait, what's this? The gates are opening, far more quickly than I would have thought. Well, these vampires are immensely strong, aren't they? Two parties of vampires exit. Hunting parties, perhaps? No, messengers, they are going with proper information to the lieutenants. They are large too, twelve vampires per party. Let's see, six fledglings, four warriors and two unknowns per group. As no memory appears, I probably haven't seen that kind before. They both look dangerous though. One of them has a larger muscle-build and size than the other, who seems to have a sleeker build, but also seems more aware and cunning. I would guess the muscular one was some sort of higher warrior, while the other, I don't know. Maybe he's the brain, while the other's the brawn. All are Turelim though, so I probably wouldn't stand a chance, since half a dozen nearly defeated me, and they would have if I hadn't had help.

The two parties split up and go in separate directions. I turn to leave as well, but as I reach the foot of the hill, I suddenly sense something on my left. I turn and see a vampire patrol coming towards me. They suddenly spot me, and pause for a while. Five vampires, all warriors, one Turelim and four Dumahim. Damn. If they really can communicate non-vocally, they probably have already reported my whereabouts. I wonder if I should try to talk to them, but I feel that nothing I say will make the slightest difference. So I decide to try and take them out. Call it stupidity or bravery; it probably isn't the smartest decision either way. The Turelim directs a few orders with its claws and then the Dumahim fan out in front of it and try to position themselves for a flanking move. They are also trying to stall, I see. Well, I'm not giving them the chance. I leap towards the two Dumahim right in front of me, but the Turelim sees my move and shoots me down with a TK blast. Damn, I should think more. After landing again I quickly roll to my feet, and then I dash for the Dumahim furthest to my left. They seem to have anticipated that as they suddenly speed up and manage to run in a ring around me. I suddenly feel invisible bonds tightening around me and I am unable to move. I struggle to break free as they all approach, confident on an easy kill. I am however able to break free before they reach me, and I lash out at the nearest Dumahim, managing to tear off its arm. It screams in rage and the others attack. I manage to dodge two of the Dumahim, but the third and the Turelim hit me, ripping though me with their claws. I lie there, dazed, as I feel one of them pick me up by my neck. I attempt to struggle free, and once again I feel the sensation of something shooting from my back. The vampire cries out and lets me go. I quickly spin around and land a kick directly in its chest, noticing its arm has been sliced off. As the Turelim flies off, I see the Dumahim I first injured seems to be growing a new arm and the other three pounce on me, pushing me to the ground. They slash at me and try to bite, but I manage to kick away one of them, injuring him with the claws on my feet. I also knock another off of me with a sharp blow to its head. With only one left on top of me, I'm able to throw it in the air, push myself off the ground and chop its head off as it comes back down. The Turelim has recovered and suddenly crashes into me, knocking me five meters away. The remaining Dumahim come over and start kicking me around, but quick slashes to their legs make them stop. I'm glad my injuries also heal themselves, but I still think those ribs will hurt in the morning. Speaking of which, I see the sky becoming brighter, so I guess I was right. They are hurting in the morning. I am able to push myself off the ground once more and spin around in the air, all claws extended. I rip the head off one of them and a huge chunk out the abdomen of another. As I land, I roll to my knees over to the third Dumahim and slash upwards with one hand as I rise up to my feet, ripping the vampire in half. I turn in time to see the Turelim once again charging towards and I somersault over him, grabbing his head in the process. As I land, I dig the claws on my feet into the ground and yank hard, hoping to pull his head off, but instead I pull the entire vampire over me. He makes a surprised grunt and I hear his neck snap as I continue to hold on to his head as he flies over and away from me. I quickly cut his head off in case he should recover. The two last vampires still injured, I finish them by quickly tearing them apart and then absorbing their essences before more patrols can arrive.

Once again the feeling of bliss runs through me, and I feel my strength increasing ever so slightly. I then run from the scene as fast as I can, feeling more vampires approach as I do so. Part of me wants to stay and fight them, but that would be foolish. I flee northeast, I think, hoping to find some refuge in the swamp. That is, if I find the swamp.

A/N: Phew. That's it. I hope there aren't too many errors left. Now I need a small break to figure out what happens next. Thanks to all who bothered to review, I really appreciate it. I still haven't received any suggestions from my readers, but I still hope they will come. If not, I'll just have to make do. Have fun until the next time. It might be a while, or it might be very soon. Depends on my inspiration.

PS! For every ten reviews, Raziel gets a free soul.


	4. Into the swamp

Disclaimer: I do not own Legacy of Kain. That honour lies upon the fine gentlemen at Eidos and Crystal Dynamics.

A/N: This chapter went a completely different direction then I had originally thought. Hope you like. The response to my last chapter was not much. Still, I got one review. Yay! does happy dance So I guess I'll do a review response.

Shark: Thank you very much. I hope you will like this chapter as well.

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**Chapter 4: Into the swamp**

As I come closer to the swamp, I still see no signs of anything actually living around. Sure, there are a couple of trees around, but all seem dead, however.

When I enter the outskirts of the swamp, I see some plants, if they can even be called that anymore, who still seem to be hanging on. But the only thing actually plant-like about them any longer is a greenish colour. But then I imagine swamp-plants might have always been only vaguely plant-like.

The day is slowly coming out, but the sun is still shielded by the smokescreen, so the light is rather dim.

The swamp still seems to be damp and wet, but I get a feeling it is slowly drying up. I go looking for somewhere to stay.

What I find is a surprise, so I could guess my human self had never come to the swamp. Reasonable really, since this place is just as dangerous to humans as it is to vampires, if not more. There seems to a vague sort of trail leading around the place though, but I don't stay on it, since I don't want to risk meeting more vampires at the moment. It seems that my healing ability is not as strong as the vampires, but it better than any human's, thank the gods. But the injuries I got in that last fight still needs a bit more time.

But I digress. After walking around for about half an hour, I come upon some weird structures. Curious, I search around that area and find several ruins, indicating that maybe there was some sort of settlement here once, but that was a very long time ago. Thinking of settlers in the swamp, a memory came slowly creeping into my mind. Someone lives, or at least lived in this swamp. Yes, a vampire. Older even than Kain. What was his name? Vorador, yes. From what I remember being told, Vorador has not shown himself in quite some time, so people had started speculating he might have died or been killed. It seems he had a mansion somewhere in the swamp, where he kept to himself, not wanting anything to do with the outside world. At least that's how the legend goes. It also says that living in the swamp for so long had made Vorador as green as his surroundings. Heh, funny thought. I wonder if that would happen to me if I stayed here too long?

These structures however do not resemble a mansion from what I can see. Plus it's in one of the watery parts of the swamp, making access for vampires very hard. There's also some eerie feeling to the air, like something horrible once happened here, long ago. I decide to move and see if I can find something else, this place really creeps me out.

About five hundred meters away the air feels more normal and I find what seems to have been a shrine of sorts. There is a safe feeling to the place. I decide to use this as a temporary base of sorts. Inside the small structure, leaves seem to around everywhere, most of them decomposed so much they are more dirt than leaf. I find a place where many leaves have gathered to form a pile of sorts. They have rotted so long, they have stopped smelling, and the smell of dirt and damp swamp is the only one around. I lie down to give my wounds time to heal. To my great surprise I drift away into what seems like sleep.

My dreams, if you can call them that, are far from happy. I see visions of people. People I used to know, but the visions are too vague to make any sense out of, I just get a feeling I once knew them. And painful memories stop by, only to leave and leave me with the pain. The clearest thing I can remember is a person coming after me, calling me "Silly child". It is the last thing I dream before I wake again.

I sit up sharply, still feeling the dread and terror from that nightmare, or perhaps it was a memory. After a few minutes, I manage to calm myself. If my heart had still been beating, I guess it would have been doing so quite rapidly.

I look outside, trying to figure how long I slept. It is still light, or perhaps it's light again. This means that I have either slept very little or I have slept at least one day, maybe more. I still feel exhausted, but a quick check of my body confirms that all injuries have been healed and I'm not even sore. I also find something else. I seem to have changed slightly during my sleep. It's hard to tell exactly what has changed, I just feel… different. A strange feeling, to be sure. Perhaps my body was better able to process my newfound energy while I slept. I check my claws to see if they have changed, but they seem to be the same. Perhaps I will discover what has changed later.

I ponder for a few moments what I should do, and I find that I would like to see myself. If I could just find a mirror. Perhaps there is a mirror in Vorador's mansion, but it's quite a risk trying to find it. If the vampire still lives, I'm probably no match for him. His strength might be second only to Kain himself, or maybe even above Kain's, but somehow I doubt that. I think I really am a fool, because I still decide to try it.

I wonder how I should find the mansion, and then I get an idea. I find my way back to the trail I saw earlier, and I follow it into the swamp. The trail is even vaguer than I had first thought, and following it was no simple feat, but as long as I took it slowly, it went ok. I stayed a bit away from the actual trail, so I could quickly hide if anyone or anything came along.

After I little while I find something laying half in the trail and half in the water. It's a body. I draw closer to the trail to investigate, always on the lookout for the perpetrator. The waist and up is on the trail, while the rest is in the water. To my surprise it's a vampire. To my even greater surprise it appears to have been killed by another vampire. It is totally drained, which is deadly even to vampires. The bite-marks are unmistakable. It was killed by a Rahabim. The bottom half of it has been more or less burned away by the water. It was wearing boots, which were adequate protection, I guess, as long as it didn't fall. I can't place what type of vampire it is. It's like none I've ever seen, or maybe I just can't remember. It looks more human than any of the lieutenants' spawn. Maybe one of Vorador's. It looks like it might have been male, but I'm not sure how to tell with vampires. Maybe I'll find out how later. This body seems to have been here quite some time, so I'm guessing the Rahabim that did it is long gone. Still, there could be Rahabim about yet.

As I continue following the trail, I find more bodies. All vampires, and most of them the same kind as the first, although there are a few dead Rahabim about as well. Maybe there was an attack by the Rahabim once? All the bodies seem to have been for the same amount of time. I start wondering if a blood infusion will reanimate them, but then why would I want to do that? More out of spite than anything else I tear apart the Rahabim bodies I find, but I can't make myself do that to the others. I can almost sympathize with them, since it seems a Rahabim attack was what killed me as well.

I even find some bodies that seem to be female. So there is an actual difference, but for what purpose? As far as I know and can remember, vampires are unable to breed the way humans do, so having genders are futile. The thought of vampires in love seems very alien to me, as that would require them to be more than the cruel monsters I have so far thought them to be.

Also, these other vampires, although I see common features in them, indicating they are of the same kind, seem more individual than any of the clan vampires. Perhaps all vampires were more like this once upon a time.

When I finally find the mansion, the body count has risen to twenty-seven, of which nine were Rahabim. As the large structure appears before me I wonder how anyone was able to build such a thing out here. I see no lights, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything, since vampires hardly need light to see, especially during the day.

I stand before the front doors a little while, wondering if I should open them, but I decide not to, as I don't know if it might be noticed or not, or if there are any sort of traps or wards on the thing. I walk around the tall wall to see if there are any other ways in, but there doesn't seem to be, but I notice some now-dead trees standing not too far from the wall on the left side for my jumping abilities to reach, I think. It's worth a shot, at least. But how will I get out again? I don't know what's on the other side of the wall, and if I can get over the wall back outside if I need to flee quickly. If the place is abandoned, I can just use the front doors, I guess, but if not…

Being the fool I am, I still decide to attempt to jump over the wall. I climb as high into the tree as I can, and I leap towards the wall. I manage to barely get across. I land on a walkway up on the other side of the wall. Good. Now it's confirmed I can get out again over the wall. It's about a meter and a half up to the wall's edge, but I can easily jump that. I look down into a courtyard. The place is badly in need of repair. Several pillars are there, reaching all the way up to and past the walkways on either side, four in all, although one of them has been toppled, and the three others look ready to fall any day. There are small ponds down there, something I never expected to find in a vampire's mansion. I look towards the entrance to the main building, and I see there used to a balcony over it, but most of it has collapsed. Someone has cleared away the rubble, though, so the entrance is reachable. I look to the left up my walkway, and I see a door, which I judge it to be safer than the main entrance. I can't feel any vampires around, but I still can't quite calm down.

I walk slowly over to the door and try the door handle. Nothing happens. I open the door and walk inside. There is a walkway here that goes down to the bottom, and I decide to try it. I hear nothing, see nothing and nothing happens as I walk down, but it still feels like something is wrong. I try to ignore the feeling. This seems to be some sort of storage area, but it doesn't appear to be in use. I look for a mirror, but sadly there isn't one here. Damn, I was hoping I could leave already. Something tells me I should leave anyway, but I dismiss it as the coward within me.

As I proceed further, I notice that there are signs of battle almost everywhere. Old signs yes, but they're still there. Broken crates and furniture and old blood spatter are the most frequent signs, but someone seems to have cleared away any bodies that might have been and also the worst of the debris. Walking though old hallways I find a few tattered tapestries, but no mirrors. There also seems to be rather a lot of stone rubble around. Someone has cleaned up the worst of it, but traces remain everywhere. After a while, I find myself in what might have been a sort of inner garden at some point, with three demon-angels spurting blood into a pool. It looks like blood, at least. I decide not to investigate further. There are also some ancient murals that seem to have been destroyed or have just fallen apart, with small compartments behind them. I'm on some kind of upper walkways, with another door opposite the one I entered though. Instead of going though it, I decide to jump down and exit this room. I think I'll be able to jump back up again.

The feeling that something's wrong seems to be growing the more I walk around this mansion. It almost feels like someone is watching me, but I neither sense nor smell anyone, and it really creeps me out. At this point I really haven't much choice but continuing on however, so I try my best to dismiss these feelings, not quite managing it. As I go through a door into what seems like the main hall I think I see something down the stairs, but when I turn to get a better look, nothing's there. This is all getting pretty disconcerting, and my courage is quickly failing me. I manage to walk around the hall looking for a mirror. Sadly there isn't one here either, but I do find an old painting of Vorador himself. He looks practically like royalty with his blood red clothes contrasting his dark green skin. I wonder who painted it, and if it is an accurate painting. I walk back the way I came, not wanting to try to open the main entrance door.

I backtrack to the room with the demon-angels and I try the door opposite the one I first enter through, after a quick wall-jump up there.

The feeling of being watched still intensifies, but I still do my best to ignore it, and I'm successful enough to keep going, but only just. I constantly reach out with my senses, but I never find anything. I wonder if I'm going paranoid.

I eventually find my way into what looks like a library. As I walk down the stairs, I finally spot a mirror. Sadly it's too big for me to take with me, but at least I can get a look at myself, and for the moment I forget all creepy feelings.

As I look into the mirror I'm both amazed and appalled by what I see. I don't think I could be called pretty under any circumstances. My face resembles a cross between human, vampire and… something else, giving me a slightly demonic look. I extend my fangs as I watch, and it's a rather scary display. They look razor-sharp. I then recall I cleaved in two the vampire that held me, and I turn and I try to will it to happen again, but carefully this time. After a short while, I see some sort of bone blade come out of my back, slowly and carefully this time. It seems to be fastened right below my neck, and extends all the way down my spine. I seem to able to take it out so far it nearly touches my head, but it only goes straight up and down, so it's mostly helpful if someone grabs me from behind or is upon my back as I lie on the ground.

As I observe my lean but muscular form, I must admit there is a sort of beauty to it all, but not exactly in the conventional sense. Hard to explain really. I seem to be constructed in a way that gives me the ability to reach top-speed very quickly, and also get a low amount of resistance while swimming and jumping. The powerful leg muscles and lean frame further suggests this body was built primarily for speed and agility, but the muscles on my arms and torso indicate I was also to have sufficient strength to actually harm my enemies. But not much more, it seems. I'm not built like a brawler, so I need to be mindful in battle. I still remember the Turelim cracking my ribs quite easily. But I believe I'll be stronger after I drain enough vampires.

"And who, pray tell, are you?" I freeze immediately. That came from behind me. "For that matter, what are you?" I'm able to turn around very slowly to see who spoke, but I already know the answer. And there he stands; tall, green and definitely mean. The look on his face is bemused and he looks like the spider that caught the fly in its web or perhaps the cat that cornered the mouse. "And most important, what are you doing in my home?" He also seems to be getting a bit impatient. I can't answer, since my brain seems to have frozen from shock and fear. "Answer me!" he suddenly shouts and I jump involuntarily. After what seems like an eternity, he cocks his head. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" His tone is getting rather dangerous. I quickly consider my options. I could try to attack him, but he could probably destroy me with one finger. I could try to talk to him, which at least buys me a little time, or I could just try to run, but he's ready for that, I see it by the look in his eyes and the way he stands. I decide to try talking, but being as terrified as I am, it's hard to say coherent sentences. "No, I… I just…" I manage to stammer forth. His eyes narrow, and if I could swallow, I would have done so. "You just what?" he asks. I try to answer, but in my terror it's extremely hard. He decides to finish for me. "Perhaps you're a new creation of Kain, sent here 'just' to destroy me, hm?" he asks in a sarcastic tone. I quickly deny it. A bit too quickly, perhaps, but it wasn't true, was it? "No, no… I just… just wanted…" He gives me a look that kinda says, 'Go on, or else'. "I just wanted… to look in the mirror." I finish quietly. He gives me a quizzical look, before letting out a laugh. It isn't a pleasant sound. "Oh really? And why would you want that? And why here?" I can't find an answer to give him. "Who are you?" He asks after a little while. I slump my shoulders slightly in defeat before saying truthfully: "I… don't know." He seems a bit surprised for a moment, and then he seems a little curious. "You don't know? How can you not know?" He demands. "I can't… remember." I say carefully. His patience seems to be at an end, but he stops to consider for a moment. I'm not sure what he's considering, until he speaks again. "Bah, I don't have time for you, even if you don't come from Kain. And I can't just let anyone come in here when they feel like it, so…" He says simply, and I suddenly see more vampires appearing, the same kind as the dead ones I saw outside. Two, five, ten, twenty, thirty. Way too many.

I suddenly go into desperation mode, thinking only to get away. I try to bolt past Vorador, but he backhands me and I fly into a bookshelf with a sickening crunch, and all his children, if you can call them that, come rushing towards me. I ignore the pain, running on pure adrenalin. I dodge past a few vampires before crashing out a window into the one-time garden. There are walls here as well, and I look desperately for a way out. The vampires pursue me, and I run for it. I run right into a dead end, and a few of them jump me. I'm able to push them off me with only a few scratches. I try not to hurt them, and at least not kill them, as I don't want them any madder than they already are. I get by the vampire rush with nothing more than some scratches and a few gashes which quickly start to heal, but I'm not sure I can take the blood loss. Of all the things to think of as I run, I wonder how I can bleed when I have no pulse. I'm able to find a damaged pillar low enough for me to jump onto, and from that I'm able to jump up the walkway on the wall, but not without considerable effort.

As I land I cry out in pain and fall over. Whatever was damaged when Vorador sent me flying, it's pretty serious. The vampires try to follow, but by the time they get up there, I'm on my feet again and leaping over the wall. I can't help but cry out again as I land in the swamp outside, but at least this ground is a little soft, so it's not as painful as before. I quickly dive into the swamp water and I try to get away as quickly as I can. I hear angry and disappointed hisses from the vampires as they realize I'm fleeing in the water. They give up, for now, but I must be more careful than ever now, at least while I'm in the swamp. Now I just try to find my way back to the shrine before I black out. I go as fast as I can, and when I reach it, I'm completely spent and collapse right inside the doorframe. Stupid, stupid, I berate myself. Why did I do something so foolish? But I already know the answer. I have an incurable curiousity. I just had to know. Darkness engulfs me as I fade into unconsciousness.

A/N: I used what I could remember of Vorador's mansion from Defiance in this chapter. Hope I haven't made too many mistakes. As I mentioned earlier, this chapter took a completely different route from what I had first intended. I didn't really plan on going to Vorador's, but I couldn't help it once I started writing. Less action in this one, but I hope you still like. I'm relatively pleased with it. I plan on putting in more adventure in the future, but I won't abandon fight scenes completely. Hope I haven't portrayed Vorador wrong either.

PS! Raziel is getting impatient, so I hope I get ten reviews soon so his free soul comes through, or he might take mine.


	5. Showdown

Disclaimer: I do not own Legacy of Kain (sadly). If I did, I wouldn't be living on a budget.

Warning: This chapter has been written during sleep deprivation.

A/N: It seems I finally made the ten reviews limit, so Raziel got his soul. I'm temporarily safe. J I really appreciate all the reviews. I'm honoured. And touched. wipes away a tear The reviews are way nicer than I feel I deserve. Now before I dissolve completely, I'll go to the review responses.

Lunatic Pandora1: Yes, he/she is rather odd. I haven't decided gender yet, but since I'm a guy, I guess I make my character seem male. I'm still waiting for suggestions from readers on that, but if I must decide, it'll be male. As for Vorador, I hope you can live with the explanation I sent you.

Smoke: I'm glad you think so, and I do think action has its place, especially since the games are riddled with it. Nosgoth isn't exactly a nice place, and I guess I do like it. I think it's a challenge to make it work, and I like a challenge (at least some times). And rest is no fun. ;) Just kidding, I'll try my best to keep the paragraphs from getting too long.

Leviathan: I'm happy you like it. I'll try my best to keep it up. And don't expect much help from Vorador. Why would he help a vampire killer, eh? Even if it so far is only Kain's brood he's/she's killed. And how would you feel if someone just broke into your home? I'm surprised he wasn't madder at Kain and Raziel for doing so.

**Chapter 5: Showdown**

My dreams are still tormented. When I wake once more, I sadly, or maybe I should be glad for it, don't remember much, except the pain and terror. In amongst these, I can feel some good feelings, but terror and pain are strong emotions, so they would be among the first of memories to come back of the ones that aren't triggered. Since the happy feelings I feel are few, I can just guess I haven't had many strong and good feelings.

The actual content of the dreams escape me, except for the last one. Strangely it wasn't scary or painful. I only get a strong feeling of pride from it. I've accomplished something. I'm not sure what, but my family is proud of me, and I'm happy that they're proud of me. My mother, my grandfather, my siblings.  I had siblings. I can see them vaguely, three kids of varying age, and even if I can't remember their names, I know they're my siblings. Two brothers and one sister. As I wonder what happened to them, I wake up slowly.

Once again I wonder how long I've been out of it. It's dark now, but not too dark for my enhanced eyes to see. It's quiet, as always. A lone splash, indicating something hitting the water can be heard far off. I sit up slowly, to see if my injuries have healed, and to my relief, they have. I feel just as exhausted, if not more, as last time. Perhaps it's because of my healing ability working as hard as it can while I sleep. I really hope my healing gets better later on.

I also feel a strange new sensation. Powerful, demanding. I know this feeling. It's hunger, although many times more powerful than I can ever remember feeling, but I guess that doesn't say too much. It feels more like a craving than a need. I have sustained too many injuries and been too active over a short period of time, I would guess. If my stomach could growl, I guess it would have. I hope my stamina increases as well over time.

I have to find something to eat, meaning a vampire. I could hunt Vorador's kind, I guess, but something tells me they rarely leave his mansion anymore. It's not safe for them out here either, as those bodies I found yesterday confirm. And I'm far from strong enough to go in there and challenge them, at least not yet.

So that means I have to go out of the swamp to hunt. This is hardly safe, I know, but it seems I have no choice. Searching the swamp for Rahabim doesn't exactly sound like a great idea either, since they probably have more skill in the water than me, and I don't think there are any of them left here anyway. Something tells me I would feel them if they were here. Perhaps my bond with them is stronger than with the others since I came from their spawning pit. I have thought about it, and I think a sort of bond with Kain's brood is what enables me to sense them, and also why I couldn't sense Vorador and his kind. This might mean they can sense me as well, to some degree, but I'm not sure of that.

I go further north to get out of the swamp, seeing as how Vorador lies east, and the heavier infested areas of Kain's brood lie to the south and west. What I need is one or two vampires, not six or more together, as I doubt I could handle that number in this condition.

As I exit the swamp, as the air gets dryer, I can also feel it get colder. I can't actually feel it on my body, but somehow I still feel it. Snow, still partially white starts to get more frequent on the ground. And suddenly, I know where I am. The memory appears so fast, it's like it was always there. This is Dumahim territory. With the memory comes information telling me this is more correctly former Dumahim territory.

As I come up a long but not very sharp rise, I see it. The entrance to the once-great Dumahim city. The gates loom large and foreboding, and I wonder how the hunters gained entrance. This is one of the fonder memories that have come to me. I can remember the celebrations when we heard. The hope we felt. Dumah, the lord in this territory, was apparently very sure that his defenses could never be breached, and he didn't consider humans any sort of threat anyway. An arrogant type, the stories say. He was so sure; he apparently kept his guard at a minimum. So when the vampire hunters struck, the Dumahim and Dumah himself were so surprised they didn't have time to react, and they were overcome by the hunters. The Dumahim were decimated, and Dumah himself was slain while still sitting on his throne.

The surviving Dumahim either went into hiding out of shame and fear, or were taken in by Kain and now live more or less in the Sanctuary of the Clans and are used as guards. The once-great city is now often referred to as the Ash Village, for reasons I never quite understood. But then I can remember still being very young when this happened, and I didn't understand much of it then. I remember the joy, though, and the hope that people felt that maybe the vampires could be defeated after all.

The neighbouring clans moved in afterwards and took what territory they wanted, but none claimed the area around the city. Maybe some sort of last respect. But I suspect there might be Dumahim left in the area, maybe even inside the city, not quite wanting to leave. It didn't take long before I found a lone wandering Dumahim stalking the night, looking for prey perhaps. Even in my weakened state, the battle didn't last long. It seemed to be rather weakened too. A quick dash to reach it and then a sharp kick to the head was all it took. It barely saw it coming. As I drained it, the ecstasy seemed greater than ever, probably because of the hunger I felt, but it made the revulsion against what I am increase.

Looking into that mirror at Vorador's mansion appalled me, and filled me with self-loathing despite how fascinated I also felt. Even if I admit there is a subtle beauty to this form, I don't want it. If I could throw up, I think I actually might have. Sadly, my hunger didn't feel saturated, far from it, actually. If I didn't think it necessary that I did this, I would have been happy to starve to death, but even if I tried it, I suspect my body might intervene again as it did when I met that first Rahabim and froze. It would probably have forced me to go hunting in some way, or maybe even taken control and done it by itself.

It is then I wonder if this body is truly mine, or if it controls me more than I control it. It might have been pure survival instinct that time, but it felt like more than that. If this is the case, it seems, at least so far, that it lets me do what I want, or is that just an illusion?

I stay in the area for a while, looking for more vampires. I find several more Dumahim, which makes me wonder if the clan was as decimated as the hunters had claimed. None of them are any real challenge, as they all seem weakened. I feel my strength growing slightly with each vampire I drain, and after draining seven more after the first one, my hunger is saturated. Once I'm finished, I feel such a desire to throw up, I'm really frustrated I can't. I don't think I ever want to let myself get so hungry one more time.

I just sit in small cave I found the last three bundled together, attempting to calm myself down. I wonder if I will ever get used to it. A slight wind enters the cave and sends some of the ash flying around. I can feel that there are more Dumahim not far away, but I have no desire to go after them at the time. After what seems like hours, but probably wasn't, I get up and walk outside.

The wind seems to have picked up, and snow is whirling around, with more coming from above, but not very much. The Dumahim have developed snow tolerance by living up here, so it's no threat to them. And it's not like it melts on their cold bodies anyway. I wander around wondering what to do next, and then I feel something. It's still some way away, and there is only one type of vampire I can feel that far off. Curiousity getting the better of me, I pick up speed to see what's going on.

And I see them as I come round a bend. I slow to see what they're doing, but I was a bit late as they notice. The two Rahabim have spotted me and stopped, and I wonder what they're doing way up here. This is way off they're territory, but there is a lake and a river in the area, and I suppose they consider anywhere with water there area, to some extent. They seem puzzled for a second, and then they hiss as realization dawns. So they have heard of me. Word spreads fast, it seems, or maybe it doesn't. I have no idea have long I was out those times I 'slept'.

I notice one of them is holding something. The other suddenly hisses something I recognize as speaking. "You go. I'll take care of this," it says. The other simply nods and continues go the direction they were first heading. If they have heard of me, they must have heard I took out a whole patrol of Turelim and a guard patrol of Dumahim and Turelim, yet neither of them seems worried that I have appeared.

I want to find out what they have, so I dash for the one that is going away with it. But suddenly, the other one is in front of me and extending his hands. Once again there is a _whump_ sound and I don't have time to dodge. I feel like a brick wall is sent straight into me, and I am once again sent flying. The distance I fly is rather impressive, I think, but my landing really isn't. I skid along the ground a few meters before I'm able to roll to my feet.

The Rahabim is still standing there, just watching me. The other one is nearly out of sight. Impressive speed. Not even the Turelim were that fast. As I start moving, it fires another blast, but now I'm ready and I dodge it. It seems to realize it won't catch me with another blast, and instead flexes its claws and readies for close combat. I use my speed and lash out a powerful strike against the vampire, which it seems to dodge easily. I nearly fly past it, and it catches me with a blow across my back, sending me to the ground hard, and would have knocked the wind from my lungs if they still functioned. Damn, it's fast. It swipes a low kick towards me, but I'm able to roll out of the way and get to my feet once again.

I then notice it is quite a bit bigger than the one I first met. More powerfully built as well, and it looks overall a lot more threatening. I mentally gulp as I realize this is probably the Rahabim equivalent to those powerful Turelim I saw outside the Sanctuary. It sneers at me, and then launches a volley of strikes against me. They come high, low, from the left and from the right, and I do my best to dodge or block them, but the vampire's strength is superior to mine, and it seems to be nearly as fast as me, if not faster, and eventually it breaks through my defense with a powerful left slash that tears across my chest and then a sharp kick that sends me flying.

With considerable effort I'm able to get to my feet before it reaches me. I quickly realize I won't win with strength alone, and I start pondering ways to beat it. As I backflip away from a kick, it is still able to catch the side of my torso, drawing blood and nearly making me fall once more, but I manage to land on my feet. True, it's bigger than me, but I might use that against it, if I'm not killed first. It also seems as if it's starting to get bored with the whole affair, and it shows that by lashing out a powerful blow that might have finished me, had it hit.

Instead, I dodge it just barely, by ducking under it, delivering a quick slash at the vampire's stomach, and then rolling away. He seems a bit surprised by the manoeuver, but I can also swear I see it grin slightly. I launch another attack before it can, but it is able to block it and parry with a move of its own, but I manage to dodge away from this as well.

Then we go into a sort of rhythm where we exchange blows and dodge each others attacks. If this goes on, I will be the one to lose, I know it. I feel myself weakening with each it hits me with, and it also heals faster than me. On top of all of that, it seems to be much more experienced in fighting than me. I manage to hit it a few times, but never anything serious. In desperation I suddenly launch a powerful but foolhardy attack, but since the vampire didn't expect it, the attack connects and nearly tears off its arm. It roars and responds with a powerful blow with its other arm, which knocks me to the ground and nearly knocks me out.

I try to shake off the dizziness, but I'm too late as a kick to my gut sends me rolling along the ground. I made it really mad now, and it wants to finish me off quickly. As I try to recover enough to get up, I notice the sky has gotten lighter. This fills me with slight hope, as Rahabim can't stand daylight. It makes them weaker, and kills them if the slightest ray of sun breaks through or the smokescreen is just a little bit too thin over where they are.

The vampire doesn't seem to have noticed. It's just angry and wants me dead. I have to try and keep it angry without getting me killed long enough for the daylight to kill it or at least weaken it. I manage to get to my feet and jump out of the way of the incoming attack, despite the great pain it causes. It's about to attack again when it suddenly flinches, and I see faints trails of smoke coming from it. The sun must have come over the horizon. I suddenly notice it has stopped snowing as well. The vampire realizes the mistake it has done, but instead of panicking, it continues to try to finish me off, even though it probably knows it isn't likely to win any longer.

The sun doesn't break through enough to kill it, but it's severely weakened. It's still a good opponent, but now I'm on the offensive, and after a short while, I manage to break through and slash at its throat. This makes it stumble slightly and I jump up and swing a kick at its neck. It manages to dodge slightly, but I still send it to the ground, for the first time this fight.

By some freak coincident, a thin ray of sun breaks through and burns through the vampire's left thigh before disappearing again. The scream it emits is nearly primal, but I finish it off quickly, silencing the scream. I then drop to my knees next to it, whatever had kept me going, was now expended. I proceed to drain it. The power I feel coming from it to me, nearly knocks me out. I stagger, but I continue the draining, drinking in all of it. I don't think I could have stopped if I wanted to. All my wounds seem to instantly heal, and the increase of power I feel is more than just slight. As the rush reaches my head, I black out for a moment, and I'm on my hands and knees when I come to again.

This power-boost was lovely, yet terrifying. Feeling something so intense, even if it's a good feeling, is rather scary. My thoughts then went to the other vampire, the one that left. I decided there was no point in following it. This fight was rather lengthy, so it had plenty of time to get away. I get up, and look around. I don't see anything special. When I concentrate, I can sense a few Dumahim a bit off, but I have no desire to go after them at the time. Instead I turn eastwards, and I decide to go see what I can find there.

A/N: Okay, first of all, I hope I didn't get the geography wrong. It has been a very long time since I played Soul Reaver. I haven't been able to find a good map for the Soul Reaver era either. I haven't been able to find any map for the Soul Reaver era to be honest. Please tell me if you know of any. This chapter got rather fight-concentrated, and I didn't intend to, but it just happened that way. I hope that's okay.

Any other mistakes I have made, I also I apologize for.

For the next chapter I intend to fast-forward a little. Not sure how much, but just to get my character a little established and a bit stronger before sending him/her out on more adventures. I'll probably do a quick summary at the beginning, but I haven't quite decided yet. If you think I shouldn't fast-forward, please let me know. It's just a thought.

PS! Please keep reviewing. I'm not sure how long that soul will satisfy Raziel, and he's rather grumpy when he's hungry.

_Raziel:_ Hey, I heard that!


	6. Secret of the depths

Disclaimer: I do not own Legacy of Kain. If I did, I would have a house! And a cat! But no, it belongs to Eidos and Crystal Dynamics instead.

A/N: Ah yes. Another chapter. You're not getting away that easily. :) First of all I have to say that the history I introduce in this chapter is something I made up, and is not an official part of Nosgoth history. Now, this chapter has been half-finished nearly since I published the last chapter, but I never got around to finishing it until now because I had to study. Exams are bad! And…

Raziel: Hey! When am I gonna be in this story?

Varewulf: Excuse me?

Raziel: You heard me. When am I gonna be in this story? I bet that would increase your review count.

Varewulf: Now now, Raziel, it's rude to interrupt. All in good time. Now, on to the review responses. And stop looking at me like that; it's giving me the creeps.

Raziel: grumbles incoherently

Lunatic Pandora1: Hope you didn't think I overdid it. As for meeting Kain, that isn't planned, but with me, you never know.

VladimirsAngel: You've just been away? Almost thought you had come to your senses and abandoned this story. Glad you like it, at least I'm interpreting what you said as if it meant you like it. As for Raziel, he has calmed down, but I think he wants in on the story.

****

**Chapter 6: Secret of the depths**

It has now been a year since I first rose in this form, at least I think so. Maybe a little more, maybe a little less. I have changed much in that time. I guess I started out a bit too ambitious, perhaps. But when I ran into both Vorador and that Rahabim champion shortly after one another, I decided to be more careful and calculated in my actions. Wandering eastwards, away from vampire territory, I eventually found a human settlement. They didn't trust me in the least, at least at first.

I still decided I should look after them a little, so I started watching them whenever anyone left the settlement. I stopped all vampires that approached, at least when I was able. After they found out what I was doing, they became less cautious towards me, but not much. Even to this day, they won't let me in, but they tolerate my presence outside, and no longer chase me away. It was from them I learned that the type of Rahabim I encountered was a champion. Apparently, it's the stage fighter vampires enter before they become elder vampires.

Vampires come here once in a while to hunt for food, but the settlement is well hidden. I only found it by chance while I was following some humans, keeping them form harm. If the vampires knew of this place, they might launch an attack, but it is also very possible they do know of this place, but they decide to let them live on, since it would be too much of a bother to get rid of them. It's not as if food is scarce for the vampires, at least not yet. And it seems that the people here are largely just normal people, not hunters or the like. They have a guard force, but I have seen nothing more. If they had hunters, I think I would have seen them leave once in a while.

And then there are my changes. When I look back, I can hardly recognize me anymore. My skin colour is largely the same, but it seems to have adapted to the landscape around here by becoming slightly darker. That happened during the first few weeks I stayed here. I seem to become lighter again now that the snow has started covering the ground again. I also seem to have grown taller. I suppose that draining vampires has brought this on, since several of them are taller than me, especially the Turelim and Zephonim.

My telekinetic abilities have also increased. I am now able to throw vampires away, like they once threw me away. I can also pull them towards me, if they're not too far away. My control has also become better. I practice often, trying to just lift an object and moving it about carefully, but this is much more difficult than bursting or pulling, and I haven't made that much progress, to be honest, but I'm better than I used to be. Still, it usually ends with the object being sent flying at full force. I have found out I can make rocks fly very far.

I have tried actively hunting the weaker vampires, like Zephonim and Mechiahim. The Zephonim usually don't stray far from their cathedral, but since that's not too far away, I go there once in while. I jump their patrols and hunting parties when they come out. The Melchiahim seem to be almost anywhere, but I usually stumble upon Dumahim, as they **have **spread everywhere, it seems. It's usually fledglings, though, so I have little trouble. There are hunting parties out after me as well, but I have little problems avoiding them.

The gifts I seem to receive from the Zephonim, apart from height, are better balance and increased climbing ability. Studying my hands closely has revealed that small things, nearly like little hooks, have grown, and they can latch on to several surfaces, but I'm not nearly as good as any Zephonim. They don't latch on very tightly either, so I must avoid the steeper climbs and smoother surfaces.

From the Melchiahim, I have finally learned to burrow, but only to a limited degree. I need time to burrow into the ground, and I am only able to bury myself in the ground. Trying to move around takes too much time to be worth the bother. But it's a nice way to ambush unsuspecting vampires, but it's no use if none come to where I lie buried.

The Rahabim I have drained has given me much better control in the water, but I think most Rahabim can still best me in a swimming contest. My feet and hands also seem slightly webbed.

Despite the number of Dumahim I have drained, I still don't seem to have that ability they used on me. Maybe it only works for a group.

My strength has increased substantially, though. My physical appearance has become more muscular to reflect this, it seems. Also, my speed has increased, but not so much, since I already was very speedy at first. My general form seems to remain the same, so my acceleration and agility hasn't been hampered at all, at least to my knowledge.

As for my memories, some of them have been restored, but it's mostly knowledge of the land and its inhabitants. The memories of my life and who I was are still mostly missing. I remember I had a family; a mother, a father, a grandfather, two brothers and a sister. I also remember a friend, whose name I actually know. Serra. It came to me one time I slept. The feelings I remember having for this girl, makes me suspect I was male before my death. My age is anyone's guess, though. Other than that, there were a few personal memories that were too fragmented to make much sense, but I remember living in a village, enclosed by walls, and hidden away somewhere. Where that was, I can't remember. Maybe it was this one. Maybe that's what been keeping me here as much as anything else, but I'm not sure.

This last month, I've felt strong enough to move further away from here on my trips, and explore more of the land. There are few landmarks left to see, sadly. The entire land seems to be decaying, but on a trip further east, I found something interesting.

It was a lake, with a small island and an abandoned house on the southern end. I can remember once hearing a legend of this lake, which said it was once a valley with a village in it, but the villagers somehow displeased their gods, and the valley was flooded.

Being the curious creature I am, I had to see if there was any truth to this, so I dived in and went down. The lake wasn't too deep, no more than you would expect it to be, and I did indeed find evidence of an old, maybe even ancient settlement down there. Several buildings in various states of decay, half-buried in the mud on the bottom, but my other discovery was more puzzling.

Among the ruins, I found several Rahabim, seventeen in total, and all of them were completely lifeless, with absolutely no sign of how they died apparent on them. It came as no surprise that the Rahabim had used their skills to explore every expanse of water in Nosgoth, but I couldn't find any reason for why they had died. After a while I left, but now I'm considering going back, but not alone. I have devised a plan for this.

As I'm sitting pondering this, I notice some people are coming out from where the settlement is located. I wonder where they're going today. Maybe the stronghold. I have seen several convoys or groups going to a human stronghold a way south of here, nearer the Silenced Cathedral. It's not exactly a safe route, so I think I should go along with them. Besides, I'm going in that direction anyway, and it's only a small detour.

I jump down from the rock I'm sitting on, and go on a parallel course to the one the humans take. As I suspected, they seem to be going towards the stronghold. I don't go too close to them, since many of the people here seem very unsure of me still. I understand them, but I still feel a little hurt by this.

It's not exactly a big group, I see. Only six of them, of which two are guards. It usually pays to go in bigger groups, but I guess they trust me somewhat, since I don't think they would have gone in such a small group if I hadn't been here. I usually keep myself where I know their scouts will see me when I'm around.

I move in so the guards spot me, before I fade from sight again. I just barely see an affirmative nod from one of them, indicating they know I'm there. As it turns out, nothing happened during the trip, but it's just as well. I'm not in the mood for a fight today anyway, but I know I might still get one. After seeing they got in safely, I continue to a nearby lake where I know Rahabim often are found. I have to wait until nightfall, but that's no more than a couple of hours away.

I can feel them down there, but I'm not sure if any of them would survive if I took them with me up from the water in this light. So I wait. In the meantime I can check I have everything with me. I unhook my backpack and put it down.

I'm rather proud of myself for thinking of this. I acquired a backpack from the village I first found. Since there aren't any clothes I can actually wear, and it would be hard to convince people to make clothes for me, I needed something to carry extra items in. I can't exactly make pockets on my body, so I decided a backpack would be perfect. I keep it well tightened so it doesn't restrict my mobility much, although I prefer to put it down if I have to fight.

Yes, both items seem to ok. First, I obtained a poison that, even though it kills humans, only has a stunning effect on vampires, but this should knock it out long enough for me to use the other thing I brought with me. These bands are lightweight and flexible, but more than strong enough to hold a fledgling. Maybe even a warrior.

This plan could go wrong in so many ways. First of all, I'm hoping one of the fledglings, or maybe a warrior, will come up to the surface as soon as it gets dark. Since this is far from sure, I'm prepared to go in the water to try and fetch a fledgling. The poison will work underwater, but only if I'm able to release it right in front of the vampire's face, or even better, inside its mouth. This, combined with getting it to the surface quick enough, will be the hardest part of the plan, and the one that is most likely to fail.

Then there's the transport. It is possible the vampire could escape while I traveled north, and I'm also hoping it doesn't slow me down too much. The trip isn't the shortest there is, so if it delays me so much that dawn breaks before I arrive, it was all for nothing.

After I finish checking that the bands are alright, I sit down and wait.

After a little while, I sense someone approaching. Turelim, a full dozen. Must be a hunter party. I wonder how they found me. Perhaps it's just as coincidence, but these parties seem to stumble close to me a bit too often. Maybe they can sense me too, but I haven't seen any definite evidence of that. Damn, I can't just leave now either. Too much planning has gone into this.

I go into hiding while I consider my options. I'm not sure they will actually come, the Turelim aren't any more fond of water than the other clans (not including Rahabim, of course), but they do follow orders, and they will come down here if they're ordered too. From what I can sense, they are approaching the lake, but not the exact spot where I am.

I have been here earlier, of course, and they know that, so they might just be checking if I've come back, or this is a natural part of their patrol route. My options are limited. I can flee, but I don't want to. If I leave, it might be a while until I can come back, since I have other duties now, and winter is coming, so the lake might freeze soon. Besides, I'm stubborn, and I already decided on tonight.

I can just hide, hoping they will leave and not find me, but something tells me this is unlikely. They are good at searching, so unless I dive into the water, they will probably find me. And if I do dive into the water, the Rahabim will probably spot me, and I've lost the element of surprise.

I can also attack them, but I only have a good chance of winning if I stay close to the water, but that might also alert the Rahabim. If I draw them away from the lake, my chances of winning diminish greatly, and if they have a champion with them, I probably wouldn't win either way, unless I was lucky.

My last option is simply avoiding them until nightfall, by keeping the lake between them and me. If they split up, that won't happen, but I can still try avoiding them.

I stay in hiding until I can see them. They stop when they're about 50 meters from the water's edge, and look around. Let's see, they seem to be warriors all of them… no, wait. They have a… is that a champion? No, it looks wrong. It's one of those 'druids', as they're called. They have less brawn but more brain than the champions, and they rely more on their dark gifts than their fighting skills, but they are still very able fighters. They are also excellent patrol leaders, directing the others with maximum efficiency.

And of course it splits the patrol, sending eight of them to the left, and going with the other three to the right. Thankfully, that's away from me. But I don't think this small amount of dead bush is enough to hide me if they come to close to me. Damn! It's already getting dark, however, so I might pull this off.

I hide my backpack and edge myself slowly away from the vampires as the sun slowly sets. When I'm nearly at the middle point where the patrol members will meet up once more, the sun is below the horizon. Finally! Quickly and silently I go into the water, knowing the Turelim probably spotted me, and I go straight for the nearest Rahabim I can sense. I feel the Turelim speeding up towards where I dove in. They spotted me, alright.

As I come down deeper I encounter the Rahabim, which seemingly is on its way upwards. As it spots me, it seems to consider what to do, before turning around to either leave or get the others. Oh no, you don't.

I reach out with my TK powers and attempt to hold the vampire back as I swim closer. I can already feel other Rahabim coming towards this point. They must have spotted me, too. I'm able to slow down the Rahabim enough for me to catch it. It seems to come to the same conclusion, and turns around to charge at me instead. Excellent.

I have the poison ready as it suddenly charges. I'm able to dodge to the side and deliver the poison right into its mouth by crushing the bottle right in front of it. For a moment I wonder if it didn't work, as the vampire turns for another charge, but then it slows down and goes limp. I breathe out mentally as I swim over to get it. I speed up as much as I can, aiming to get out of the water before the other Rahabim reach me.

They close in fast however, and soon they're right behind me. I see the water's surface, so I hold one hand backwards and fire several TK blasts to slow them down. I'm able to hold them off, and I burst out of the water like an arrow before I land on the ground near my backpack. The Turelim spot me and come running as I hurry to bind the captive Rahabim. Several other Rahabim come jumping out of the water as well, but a couple of well-aimed TK blasts buy me the few seconds I need.

The Rahabim now bound, I put on my backpack and toss the vampire over my shoulder and start running. It's not as heavy as I had imagined. Suddenly I notice the Turelim have maneuvered in front of me and are blocking my way out. Thinking quickly I fire a TK blast at the one right in front of me, and then I jump.

I hear the Turelim firing blasts of their own, but none hit me as I fly over the one lying on the ground. I'm already running as soon as I land, but a blast hits me in the back and sends me tumbling forward, losing my grip on the Rahabim. The nearest Turelim, which is the one I blasted, gets up and lunges at me, but I'm up as well and I tear off his head before I quickly pick up the Rahabim again and rush off. I run a bit zigzag to avoid getting hit by more blasts, and since my running speed is greater than the Turelim's, I'm soon out of their reach, running for the Lake of Lost Souls.

I feel them following me for a while, but once I reach the lake, I haven't sensed them for over an hour. I didn't expect to run at full speed all the way, so I arrived ahead of schedule, and I feel tired. Thankfully swimming takes little energy. The Rahabim woke up and started struggling after I had been running for about ten minutes, but since I bound its jaws shut, there is little it could do. As I put it down and check the bands, it glares at me with pure hatred. But I also think I see a little worry in there somewhere.

That look triggers another memory, containing the same man as before, glaring hard at me. There is no worry in those eyes. I constantly wonder who that man was, or maybe is. He has shown up in several unpleasant memories I've recalled. He seems to hate me for some reason I can't understand. His eyes haunt me.

I stand up and drag the vampire with me over the water's edge. I see the worry in its eyes increasing, and it struggles harder to get free, but to no avail. It seems to be familiar with the place. It has probably heard of it, since so many Rahabim have died down here.

When I pick it up to jump in, it seems to panic, and I almost fall over, but I'm able to steady myself. I realize I won't have an easy time holding on to it all the way down, so I find get out my extra bands and tie them as a kind of leash to ones that already bind it. Then I jump in with the vampire and I pull it behind me as we descend.

I proceed to an open area with what appears to have a statue sticking up from the mud. Two dead Rahabim are already here. I tie the struggling vampire to the statue-remains. Its eyes seem to go wide when it notices its dead brethren, and it struggles even harder. I swim away and take cover behind a crumbled building a short way away, not quite sure about what will happen now.

For a while, the Rahabim seems to struggle as hard as ever, but, little by little, its struggles seem to die down, and after 10 minutes time it's completely still, apart from the occasional jerk.  It has probably worn itself out. After another 10 minutes, I'm tired of waiting, so I swim over to the vampire. To my great surprise, it's dead. How did that happen? I never saw anything approach.

I search the vampire and the immediate area to see if I can find a clue as to how it died, but I find nothing. After a few hours of searching, I untie the vampire, and take the bands with me. There wasn't any life essence to drain, sadly. I wonder if I will ever find out what happened down here. Maybe the water is poisonous to them, but something tells me that isn't it.

As I come up to the surface, I put the bands back in my backpack and I head towards the village again. As I leave, I have more questions and but not more answers than when I first came here tonight. I decide I must go back another night and investigate further. Plus, the lake somehow felt different tonight. Less threatening. I wonder why.

A/N: Whew. Finished. They seem to get longer and longer, like the Wheel of Time books and the Harry Potter books, for that matter. I hope you like this one too.

Raziel: I wasn't in this chapter either. Of course no one will like it.

Varewulf: Hey! That's not nice.

Raziel: Huh. You call yourself a Raziel fan and you haven't written a single fic where I'm included yet. Some fan.

Varewulf: I promise you will be included in a fic, Raziel, just not right now. Have patience.

Raziel: Patience, you say? What do you know about patience? I'm the king of patience!

Varewulf: sarcastically Yes, your Highness.

Raziel: That's better.

Varewulf: Anyway, I might not be able to update for a little while, at least until me exams are over, and that's more than a week away. We'll see how much inspiration hits me and compels me to write. And Raziel is still getting a free soul for every ten reviews. He might be a pain sometimes, but we all still love him, right?

Raziel: You do? Wow, I… wait a minute, what did you mean by pain? I'll show you pain.

Varewulf: Uhm… gotta run!


	7. Changes

Disclaimer: I don't own Legacy of Kain. Chapter 7: Saviour 

One crisp winter morning, the handsome and brave blue knight finally arrived to save the day. In the streets, all the humans rejoiced as they heard of his arrival, and

Varewulf: Ehm… Raziel? What are you doing?

Raziel: What does it look like? I'm writing the next chapter of your fic. I can't do any worse than you're doing. Hm… continues to look at the screen in concentration Where was I?

Varewulf: Hey, Raziel. Catch! takes out a life-like Kain plushy and tosses to Raziel

Raziel: catches plushy Hm? What's this? his eyes seem to widen as he realizes who it's supposed to be, and then they seem to take on a wicked streak Ehm… I just remembered I have more important things to do. See you later. rushes off with the plushy Now where is that sewing equipment?

A/N: Now that that's out of the way, I'll try to write the real chapter. Sorry folks, but Raziel won't appear in this fic for a little while yet, if I can help it. But he's getting more and more crafty. I didn't think he could actually use a keyboard… I also want to apologise for taking so long to write this chapter. I've been extremely lazy, but I hope you'll still read it. I'll be quicker next time. Well, onwards! Review responses first:

_Lunatic Pandora1:_ Yes, I know. See this chapter.

_BearVsChris:_ Still not nice to Bear, huh? I'm glad you like the story. I'll try to update often. But I think brilliant is stretching it a bit far.

_VladimirsAngel:_ Yes, I've seen that. I'm trying to be more careful now, so I've devised several means of distraction. By the way, will there be more 'Raising Meridian'?

_Ancient-v:_ Glad you like it. So many nice people here, I think. And I have considered lowering the review-free soul limit. We'll see.

_Smoke:_ Yes. More on that in this chapter. And possibly the next. And I honestly didn't think of having him question the Rahabim. hangs head in shame

A/N: That was all, I think. Now for the real chapter.

Chapter 7: Changes 

Something's happening to me. First of all, I seem to growing spikes everywhere. Well perhaps that's exaggerating a little, but I now have spikes coming out of my knees and elbows, and for some reason around my waist. Spikes that _can_ come out, at least. They're usually under my skin, ready to pop out any time. I can also feel them growing inside me, and that's not a pleasant feeling. They've been growing for the last few weeks, maybe longer, since I'm not sure how much they had grown before I felt them.

Secondly, I've always been able to draw in air, to enable me to speak, but lately I've come to realize I sometimes emulate breathing, for no good reason, since I don't breathe, or have any need to. I stop myself every time I find myself doing it, and every time I wonder why I was doing it. Old instincts, perhaps, that didn't die as easily as I did.

And lastly, my features seem to change themselves slowly, to become more gentle, if that's the right word, and easy to look at. That might be my body's own adaptiveness that tries to make me less frightening to the humans around by roughly imitating their form, but I'm not sure.

All in all, I wonder if all this is part of some sort of 'natural' evolution, as far as one could call me natural. I walk over to the cave entrance to see if the storm has died down. Hm… It seems to be calming down, I think, but it's hard to tell. I go back into what I guess is my closest thing to a 'home'. I haven't really done much with it, except acquiring a mirror. I don't really look that often into it. If I did, I don't know if I would have picked up the changes that happened to me.

I also have a little crate that I can sit on, and I got some sandbags I can lay on while I sleep. It just feels more right than sleeping right on the stone floor of the cave. The cave also goes slightly upwards so it won't get flooded. Not really a big issue, it just feels more comfortable this way, if that makes any sense. I feel sleep coming over me once more, so I walk over to the sandbags and lay down, waiting to drift off once more. The bond always wakes me if a vampire comes to close, so I feel relatively safe.

Rather quickly, as always, I feel myself drifting off. Another dreamless sleep, it seems. I'm having more and more of those. A blessing, perhaps, since I usually have nightmares when I dream.

After what seems to be only a short while, I come to once again. To my great surprise I'm covered in a blanket. I sit up quickly, but whoever did it seems to be long gone. I take it off, and go down to the cave entrance again. The storm has gone, and the entire area is covered in a calm white layer of snow once more. Well… not exactly white, but close. Faint human footprints near the cave entrance reveal that someone has indeed been here, but further out their tracks have vanished in the snow that has fallen. Two of them, it seems. Surely they didn't walk here in the storm? But it's possible more snow fell after the storm calmed down.

Rather puzzled I walk back up into the cave, and I notice something standing on the crate. They have brought food, as well. Some bread, a bit of dried meat and a little bit of fruit, actually. I didn't know they still got that. This was probably all they could safely smuggle out. That's wasted on me, since I can't eat. But I appreciate the gesture, none the less. I also see some warm clothing under the food. So, someone, probably from the village, seems to take pity in me, staying out here in the storm. The thought somehow warms me. I wonder who it was. If I had a sense of smell, I might follow them.

I go check myself in the mirror. Not much seems to have changed, not that I can spot immediately, at least. Then I suddenly notice I can't feel the spikes growing in my forearms anymore. Slowly I let them extend to their full length. I can see in the mirror that they've grown as long as from my elbow to my wrist. They come out on the underside of my forearms and lay themselves along my upper arms when I keep my arms straight. This will put a new twist to elbowing someone.

The ones in my calves I can still feel growing. Nasty feeling. I think I should return this food to the village. With the harsh winters in this area, they probably need all they have. I pick up the food and go outside. The weather is still clear, but it looks it might start snowing any minute. I choose a comfortable pace, and start walking towards the village. I come down into a small valley before it's uphill all the way to the village. There are few places to hide out here, so they can probably spot vampires far off, especially in this snow. It's likely they spotted me even before I went into the valley.

As I come up to the gates, I stop about ten meters away and look upwards. It's so high no vampire could jump over. The Zephonim might be able to climb up, but it's a tricky obstacle course, and the humans would be attacking from up the top and out small hatches simultaneously. I can feel them watching me with curiosity and suspicion. I have never before approached these gates, and far from everyone inside here trust me yet. I probably look too vampiric to them.

It seems they're waiting for me to make the first move. I should probably say something, but what? And would it be understandable? I haven't tried to talk for several months. If I say I'm here to return this food, they will probably find and punish those who brought it to me, but if I just say I come with food, they'll probably want to know where it came from.

I look up at the top of the wall. I see people standing up there, looking down at me. All in guard uniform… No wait. There are a few civilians up there too. They're all rather covered up because of the cold, so it's hard to see any faces. I see a couple more appearing, apparently interested in my presence, I guess. I've decided to just go with the truth, as I don't know how good a liar I am.

I draw in some air and attempt to clear my throat. It fails miserable as the air just flows out of me again. I just have to try speaking as I am. I draw in some more air this time, and I start speaking. My voice sounds hoarse, but other than that, it's remarkably clear. "I've come to return some food, clothes and a blanket," I shout. "I appreciate the gesture, but I don't eat normal food and I don't feel the cold, so I have no use for them," I continue. All is quiet except for some low mumbling only my better-than-average ears could have picked up, but not even I can hear exactly what they're mumbling, so I continue to wait.

After a few minutes, they seem to have reached a decision. I see a small hatch open just above reach and a male voice shouts out: "What do you mean, 'return it'? Where did you get it?" he demands. A hear a small threat in his words, just daring me to say I stole it. I reply calmly, but loud enough for all to hear: "I found it in my cave when I awoke earlier. I assumed someone from the village had brought it. So now I'm here to return it as I have no use for it." The hatch closes again, and I hear more mumbling. This time it's loud enough to pick out a few of the words. "…madness… who… how could they… risks…vampires…"

After several more minutes, the hatch opens once more. "Ok," the man shouts out. "Just come forward and place it in front of that small hatch you see down to the left of this one, then back off at least twenty meters. But first, we want to see this food, so we know you're not playing with us." I walk a bit closer, and then I show them the food. After a little while, the voice shouts: "Ok. Proceed." I walk up to the hatch he described and put the food and other items down in front of it.

I turn to walk away, but after a few steps I suddenly think of something and turn back towards the wall. I shout: "If you find the people who gave this to me, please don't hurt them." I then turn away again, and walk to about twenty meters away, before I stop and turn back. Almost immediately the hatch opens and a hand shoots out to quickly grab the items. It's over in a few seconds, but I suppose I might have caught the hand if I wanted to.

Satisfied, but a little hurt by their mistrust, I turn to walk back to my cave and maybe go on a patrol or a hunting trip. Or perhaps a small adventure. There's still so much of this land I want to see, so that would probably be a good distraction. Before I get further than two steps, I hear another voice, also male, call out to me: "Wait!" Puzzled, I turn towards the wall again. "Is there anything we can do for you? Anything you need?" he calls. For some reason, this makes me smile. It's probably a rather scary display, but I can't help it. "No, thank you! But I appreciate the offer," I shout back. And then I turn to walk away for the final time, a lot happier this time. Strange how such a little thing can make me feel so glad. I think I've missed contact with people more than I originally thought.

Before I know it, I'm back at my cave. I don't really have anything to do inside, so I ponder what to do next. A little exploration maybe? I haven't been much to the west yet. Could be fun. Not much vampire activity in the winter anyway, too much precipitation, so I think it will be safe to leave for a while. I just think for a few moments on what will be the best route, before I set out.

Further up from my cave is a small plain that I need to cross, but I don't think it should cause any problems. Perhaps I should stay close to the edge just in case. As I come up, I look around briefly, but there is nothing to see except the withered forest in the other side. I still cross the plain pretty hurriedly, keeping close to the left (south) edge. I quickly enter the forest and… damn! One thing they surely have is poor timing. Turelim, a full dozen. Too small to be an attack on the village and too big to be a patrol or a normal hunting party. This leaves a party hunting for me as the most likely option.

They are coming down from the north, heading towards the village area. Damn, damn and triple damn. I probably should just leave, but I don't want to risk them attacking the village when they don't find me. The party is hardly large enough to overrun it, but they could do some fair damage before they're stopped. Especially if there are any champions there, which I suspect there is. After I got away from that last hunting party, the amount of senior vampires in the parties has increased. Now there are usually at least two in each party, one champion and one druid normally.

My conscience (yes, I still have one) won't allow me to leave. I turn and go into a quick run to intercept the bloody vampires. How the hell do they always seem to stumble so close to my whereabouts? Do they have psychics or something? I seriously think about how I'm going to pull this one off. The snow might work to my advantage. The Turelim have immunity to snow, but they're not used to it. It might lower they're fighting abilities, enabling me to dispatch the warriors quickly at least. I expect the seniors to have trained in snow, but I'm not sure. The snow is also deep enough to plough through under, giving me another edge, however small.

As I run across the plain once more I stop as soon as I get to the other side and I spot the vampires. They are down in the valley, and the humans have probably already spotted them too. They're moving rather fast. I examine them, and find them have one champion, one druid and the rest are warriors. Damn this will be hard. I'm thankful for my ever-growing strength, and combined with the snowy surroundings, this might give me a chance. With two senior vampires, it's not a good chance, but at least it's **a** chance.

Hm… They walk in formation. The druid first, followed by three rows with three warriors on each of the outer rows and four on the middle one, and the champion at the back.

They haven't seen me yet, and I duck behind a sizable rock when some of the heads turn my way. I get a small idea. This will work best if I can sneak up on them somehow. I start circling around behind them and pick up speed. As the champion turns its head to look behind it, I dive quickly into the snow and flow underneath it like it was water, before jumping back up when I estimate the champion has turned back forward. This is risky, but it's the best plan I have.

When I'm right behind them I'm done circling and I'm now heading straight for them at near max speed. I see the champion starts to turn again, and I dive down once more. Having estimated the distance before I went under, I plan to jump up right behind the champion and try to catch it off-guard.

As I burst forth once more I see I miscalculated a little, since I'm about five meters further from the vampire then I had thought. Thankfully, my great speed allows me to cover the extra distance, so I extend my claws and curl up so I can bring my knee spikes to bear.

The champion seems to have noticed something, as I can see it turning, but it's too late. I slam into the right side of it back full force, my claws and spikes piercing the hard skin like it was water, and they go in deep. The vampire screams in pain and anger and falls forward with me on top of it. As it hits the ground, I push myself off, hands and knees glistening with dark blood. I raise my hand to deliver a finishing blow when something crashes into me.

The other vampires had been quick to react when they heard the scream, and the nearest warrior charged me as fast as it could. That's the reason I'm now flying through the air. I'm able to flip around so I land on my feet, and I quickly dart left to avoid any attacks coming my way. I see the champion is already getting up, his deep wounds closing rapidly, but apparently still weakened. I'm guessing it'll quickly recover to full combat status, though, or at least very close.

I hear the druid is already barking out orders and giving signals to the others: "Spread out! Surround it! Manoeuvre beta! Now!!!" I have no clue what 'manoeuvre beta' could be, but I don't want to find out, so I attack quickly; launching myself into the air and coming down a nearby warrior. I bring my elbows down and send both spikes through it's head and into it's torso, then ripping them out, leaving the vampire a complete mess and spurting blood all over.

I quickly dash over to the champion, cutting through another warrior that stands in my way. He sees me coming and starts to get ready, but he's still weakened, so I have a fair chance. Three more warriors move in to block my way. Cursing inwardly, I dive into the snow once more as I hear something discharge behind me. This time my timing is better and I burst forth right behind the champion, extending my bone blade as I do. I feel the resistance as I hit and slash through the champion.

I turn in time to see it collapse, sliced open from groin to heart, and the three warriors approach me carefully. I dash for the right one and slash my claws at it, but it manages to block. Surprised, I get hit by a powerful kick from it, making me curl together slightly, but I manage to keep standing. I release a TK blast in anger, sending the warrior flying into another further off.

The two others choose that exact time to attack me, and I receive two slashes across the chest for not keeping calm. My anger increasing instead of dissipating, I slash after the two, but since I'm unfocused, I actually miss, and receive more slashes, this time across my back and right side. I will myself to calm down and perform a more controlled attack. I straighten my claws and send them straight through the chest of one of them, and then I use this support to push myself into the air and deliver a crushing kick to the other.

As they both crumple to the ground, I hear another discharge, and something crashes into my back. To my surprise it's a large ball of ice. Nice trick. I guess this is the druid's doing. I crash into the ground, but I quickly get up again. This time I set my course for the druid, hoping to get it out of the fight. A warrior moves in to block my way once more, but I just jump over it and slash at it. I feel that I hit, but I'm not sure how good, nor do I care at the moment. I land in front of the druid, and I lash out, but it blocks, and counterattacks with a rapid low slash. I'm able to block too, and I raise my knee to try to spear it, but it dodges nimbly. It then backhands me, and I'm sent head first to the ground.

I push myself up, swivel around and slash at its abdomen, cutting it open. It growls and then uppercuts me before I'm able to block or dodge. I flip around in the air and land on my feet, ready to attack again.

I suddenly feel tension building in the air, and then there's just pain. My whole body feels like it's on fire. I tense, and try to scream, but my body won't respond. As I feel about to explode, it goes away as quickly as it came, leaving me with a burning feeling between my shoulders and under my feet.

I collapse to my knees as I wonder what happened. Ears ringing, I just barely make out a faint _whump_ sound that seems familiar, but my brain feels too scrambled to connect it to anything. Then I'm hit. From all sides the blows seem to hit exactly at the same time, and I collapse completely. Ah, I remember now. TK blasts. As everything goes dark, I wonder if that was manoeuvre beta.

Oh look! It's a dog. What is the dog doing? It's… oh! Bad doggie, you can't… you're no dog! Run! Uh-oh. thump

I open my eyes and realise the dog was just a dream. Thank the gods. I hope that wasn't a memory. Where am I? I look around, and I seem to be a room of some sort. A bedroom. And I was lying in the bed, I think, since I seem to have fallen out of it. Strange. I thought I would be dead.

Aside from the bed, there is a window, which is closed, a door, also closed, a dresser and a nightstand with a small lamp. The room is actually pretty dark, but light filters in through cracks in the window and allows me to see. How did I get here? This hardly looks like somewhere the vampires would have put me if they had captured me. There is also a strange sound. Rhythmic.

Then the door opens and I see two figures standing there. As my eyes adjust to the extra light, I see it's two humans, a man and a woman, somewhere in their early forties, I would guess. They seem to be watching me with a mixture of concern and fear on their faces.

"We heard a sound. Are you alright?" the woman asks me, her voice full of worry. I just blink dumbly, not quite knowing what to say. "Maybe he doesn't understand, Raena," the man says to the woman. "Of course he understands, Victor," Raena snaps. "They talked to him earlier, didn't they?"

"I'm ok," I manage to say weakly, and their attention snaps back to me. "I think," I add after trying to get up, but failing. Raena steps towards me, but Victor puts a hand on her shoulder. "Raena," he says warningly. She just shakes him off and continues to come towards me. She extends her hand towards me. "Let me help," she says simply. I make sure my claws are retracted before taking her hand.

She seems to pull me up easily. "You're lighter than you look," she comments. As I get to my feet and stand up, I feel my head brush against the ceiling. That weird rhythmic sound is still there. "What happened to…" I start, but my throat feels too painful to say more. "…the vampires?" Victor finishes for me. I nod. "Our guards went into alert as soon as they saw them. Then you suddenly rushed in and attacked them. You were doing quite well a while too, until that lightning struck you," he says with slight admiration. So that was what it was?

"The guards rushed out then, and caught the vampires just as they were trying to finish you off. They hadn't expected the guards to interfere, so they were overwhelmed and cut down with only minor injuries to our guards," he finishes. I'm glad I was saved, but I also feel very weak. And I know what I need. "Where are the remains now?" I manage.

Victor raises an eyebrow quizzically, but answers none the less. "They let them lie there for now. We'll remove them later. First priority was getting you safe, but that wasn't so easy, as many don't want you to be in here. They think you're a vampire too, but you're like no vampire I've ever seen," he says while he seems to examine me. "The real question is: What are you?" I can hear a slight trace of fear in his voice, but that is understandable.

I sigh before I answer. "To be honest, I don't know," I say painfully, my throat giving me hell. Victor gives me a doubtful look. "You don't know?" he asks. "No," I say, and put a hand to my throat. "Hard to talk," I say. "Need energy." I start collapsing again, my power giving out. What is that sound?

Victor catches me as I fall, and holds me up. "What do you need?" Raena asks me in a worried tone. "The vampires," I manage to say, but I can't get out more. At first they don't seem to understand, until Victor suddenly blurts out surprised: "Oh! You mean you…?" he asks hesitantly. I nod as best I can.

They are both quiet for several moments before Raena speaks. "Ok," she says. "We'll get you out there." Then she walks out of the room, and Victor helps me follow. She walks outside and I hear her talking to someone. I can still hear that rhythmic sound too. Where is it coming from? It's hard to form thoughts, so I concentrate on trying to stand.

After a minute or so, Raena comes back in. "Follow me," she says. With Victor's help, I am able to walk outside, and I notice several guards are at the ready. Probably in case I'll try to attack. The guards follow us to the gates and outside. They lead me down to the vampires, Victor still supporting me, but Raena remained inside the village.

As we reach the dead vampires, I ask Victor to help me sit down. After that is done, I close my eyes and concentrate on drawing in the vampiric essences. The senior vampires' essences are still here, as they are stronger, but some of the warriors' essences are gone or severely weakened. I draw in what I can, the feeling of ecstasy greater than ever, but the revulsion so great I collapse into the soft snow. I feel my body starting to heal instantly, muscles repairing, wounds closing and fatigue fading away in a rush. I still hear that rhythmic sound though… My eyes fly open as I realise it's the sound of my own heart, beating.

A/N: These chapters seriously seem to get longer each time. I wonder why. This was originally a bit shorter, but I wanted to avoid a big cliffhanger so I wrote a little extra. Nearly two pages. Heh. There was a little cliffhanger anyway, I see, but I felt this was a more appropriate one. I will try my best to finish next chapter in shorter time than I used on this one. I promise! Now where did Raziel go, I have something to tell him.

Raziel: Did someone say my name?

Varewulf: Yes, I wanted to inform you… what is that? pointing at something in Raziel's hand

Raziel: Ehm… nothing! hides what looks like the Kain plushy full of needles You were saying?

Varewulf: Yes, I have decided to decrease the review-free soul limit to one free soul per five reviews, which means you get two souls now.

Raziel: eyes light up Really? Thanks! grabs the souls and runs off again

Varewulf: I wonder where he's off to now? Anyway, until next time: Have fun!


	8. Relics

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in or around Legacy of Kain. That honour belongs to Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Interactive.

Long overdue thanks: Being the bad-mannered beast I am, I have completely forgotten to thank the people who have helped me create and develop this story. I will now try to rectify this.

First of all I want to thank Silicon Knights for starting Legacy of Kain, and also thanks to Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Interactive for continuing to give us the greatest game series ever. You really gave us something valuable, guys and girls.

And of course I send my thanks out to Michael Bell, Simon Templeman and all the other voice-actors who have helped bring life to the series. It simply wouldn't be the same without you. You have done a superb job.

I would also like to thank AquaSword, Gemini9000 and VladimirsAngel, whose great stories helped me decide to try to write my own. I probably wouldn't have done it without you, and I hope you're not regretful for that. Also Marina's Myst should be thanked for giving me the idea of free souls for reviews.

My deepest thanks go to my dear reviewers; Smoke, VladimirsAngel, Kangaroo Joe, shark, Lunatic Pandora1, Leviathan, BearVsChris, Ancient-v, Intrepid, Jesteretsej and You'd like to know wouldn't you!? ( :D ), and Zero-no-uta. Without you people helping and supporting my story, and me, as I probably wouldn't have written as much as I have. I'm still convinced I don't really deserve your praise, but I am truly grateful.

I also want to thank Smoke, VladimirsAngel, snarkywench, Chevan, Luigi22, Naver and Intrepid for letting me test story elements for new chapters and get their opinions, even when I did it covertly. You have probably helped me avoid several mistakes and made my story a better read.

Also my first and (at least so far) only beta reader, the lovely Intrepid, deserves all the thanks the world and I can give. Maybe I should have gotten beta readers earlier?

And to schmoopy who helped me proofread this chapter. I really owe you one. Thanks.

Also, the creators and runners of the Legacy of Kain fan sites 'Dark Chronicles' and 'The Lost Worlds', namely Ardeth Silvereni and Blincoln deserve my thanks for providing such easy access to all the Legacy of Kain facts I could want and need. You really make my writing easier.

There is also another person who deserves my very deepest thanks, and that is my one and only love. Even if she has little or no idea what Legacy of Kain is, she always supports me and makes my life whole, giving me the will and energy to keep going, no matter what.

Last, and certainly most scary, I guess I should thank Britney Spears for her song 'Everytime', which always puts me in a writing mood, for some unknown reason.

I think that's all, at least for now. If you feel I have forgotten someone or something, as I probably have, please let me know.

A/N: Maybe this isn't done very often, but I really felt like it. I will now attempt to continue this fic to the best of my ability, but I'm also wondering if I should think of drawing it to a close soon. I would really like to know what you readers think on this subject. Also, do any of you know where Raziel went? I haven't seen him since last chapter, and all my Kain plushys have vanished too. I wonder if he took them? Hm… Maybe he'll come when he's hungry, I have another soul for him.

Okay, this chapter is incredibly late. I have four main excuses for this: 1: Laziness. 2: Writer's block. 3: Great weather. 4: Holiday.

But now the holiday's over, the great weather's gone, my writer's block has gone and I can't afford to be lazy anymore since school started.

Now, on to the review responses.

_Smoke:_ I surprised you? Was that good or bad? The delay on last chapter was mostly because I was lazy, but I'm glad you think my writing is improving. I hope you like this chapter, too.

_Intrepid:_ You're exaggerating, right? It's not that great. I'm seriously feeling my ego swell. This might be bad. But I am really glad you liked it. I hadn't really thought to use this as propaganda to get people to play LoK games though. But I don't think you'd be disappointed if you did.

_Ancient-v:_ Heh, it seems I must be doing something right, huh? I hope you like the future chapters as well.

_VladimirsAngel:_ What vulnerability are you referring to? Never mind, I'm just glad you liked it. And thanks for releasing more 'Raising Meridian'. It makes me happy.

_Jesteretsej:_ Thank you. He'll be fed when he comes back. If he comes back. Heh.

_Lunatic Pandora1:_ Yes… I just felt like it, you see. :) I just hope my plans for him won't ruin the story. I suppose he still needs a name, though. The question is how. The answer is in this chapter. ;)

_You'd like to know wouldn't you!?:_ Hehe. I suppose I should give you an award for longest review. I'm glad you like it. As for the longer chapters, I do try. And they get longer each time. I think they've grown by nearly one page per chapter. And being a bit more descriptive sounds like a good idea, but I'm no Tolkien, so don't expect too much. The time skip was well thought out, I assure you. In the first couple of chapters I hadn't really intended his strength to grow much at all, so if I wrote like it did that was an error on my side. And that year he spent near the village, he wasn't as aggressive as in the first chapters, and therefore didn't gain as much energy to grow on. And I was fully aware the contacting humans part was far from the best, but I couldn't find any other way to do it at the time, and I still haven't. And you can scrutinise all you want. I'm just glad for any feedback and hints I get.

_Zero-no-uta: _You're exaggerating, surely. But thanks. I'm glad you like it. I hope you'll continue to like it. :)

Chapter 8: Relics 

I look out over the valley below, watching what little snow there is left whirl around in the wind and going over and around when it comes close to the ruins. Crumbling stonewalls half-enclose what used to be a great city, but now only ruins of buildings remain. Some are still standing, while others have collapsed completely.

I jump off the small cliff, landing gently in a pile of snow that has collected near the cliff-wall. So far south, there is little snow left, and patches of dirt and withered grass pop up everywhere. A few blackened trees stand further off to the right, testament that the land has still not given up completely.

I check my surroundings quickly, but I'm the only one here. I already knew as much, but this place makes me edgy. I feel my heartbeat rising briefly before settling down again. I still haven't [RA1] become quite used to it. If I concentrate, I can feel it pumping what blood I have through my veins, and it's actually quite disconcerting feeling so alive again. I've been wondering if the lightning might have been the catalyst for this. Also, my head has started itching since my heart started up again.

I approach the ruined city cautiously. From what I've heard, even the vampires avoid it as best they can. I go around to where the northern gates apparently once were, but they were torn down long ago, and only rusted hinges remain. I look inside at the slowly collapsing buildings. It's hard to see from here, but everything looks deserted. Several buildings are little more than piles of rubble now, but some still stand, almost miraculously.

I walk on, in through the 'gates', and suddenly it's like the air has shifted. Something eerie and… ominous is in the air. I stop abruptly, overwhelmed by this change. I feel my heartbeat rising steadily, and curse myself for being so easily scared. This does nothing to ease my mood, though. I look around at the ruined buildings once more, and suddenly they seem a lot more foreboding.

Now I mostly want to just turn and run, but I force myself to continue on. I could at least have a look around the streets. I walk ahead cautiously, peering into the ruins on every side to see if there is anything in there. Rotted boards and what might have been signs once upon a time stick up from the dirt and snow all around. Ancient metallic tools and weapons are everywhere. Skeletons that haven't turned completely to dust can be seen lying around. Combined with this creepy feeling in the air, this is a true ghost town.

I reach what I suppose is the centre of town. Two large streets cross paths, rusted iron bars standing in the middle, probably to hold up a sign pole that's now long ago rotted away. I look to my left and my right, seeing nothing but debris-filled streets either way. I think I should continue straight forward. Maybe I'll find another exit. I've just about had it with this place.

I pick up the pace a little, hoping to get out of here quickly, but not too quickly in case there's something lurking around here. I hear a sound—the soft crunch of snow. I spin around, claws snapping out automatically, but I wasn't quite prepared for this. My eyes widen in surprise when they lock onto an old man standing on the corner to my left, leaning on a small cane. He's wearing some old worn-out boots and a coat that looks to be mostly brown. The hands sticking out of the coat are bandaged, more to keep warm then to cover an injury, I think. He's wearing a hood, but it's not obscuring his face, which is covered is a short stubby beard, more white then grey in many places. Long, unkempt hair of the same grey-white colour sticks out from under the hood. He is [RA1] grinning slightly, revealing a mouth that's missing several teeth, and the ones that remain are yellow and rotted. Old scars and dirt seem to cover all the parts of his face that the beard doesn't. But the eyes… His eyes reveal that he has sunken far into insanity, but the colour is impossible to discern. Maybe brown, maybe green, maybe blue, or maybe they're subtly changing… no, that's impossible. I think. There is also something else in there, both surrounding and lying behind the insanity: a glimpse of sadness, as old and infinite as the land itself.

"So you came." My thoughts are interrupted as he speaks. He lets out a small cackling laugh. "Knew you would, I did." I'm not quite sure how to handle this, so I try asking a careful question. "Do I know you?" He just stands still and doesn't answer. I'm about to speak up again, when: "It's waiting." I become so puzzled I've suddenly forgotten what I was about to say. The man's grin seems to widen. "Up north. Look for the skull." He then lets another small laugh, before turning to his right and walking out of sight.

I'm so puzzled I forget to try to follow for a few moments. I then come to my senses and go after this man. I get round the corner in a few seconds and… nothing. It's empty. Nobody's there. And I'm not really tempted to start searching the buildings around. Something tells me I wouldn't find anything anyway.

I forego all caution, and bolt back the way I came. Within a minute, I'm outside the city walls once more. I stop for a moment to let my racing heart calm down. I feel ashamed that this scared me so. I thought I was stronger than this. I guess there's more left of the human in me than I suspected. I shudder involuntarily and think about what the… 'man' said. What's waiting? Up north, he said. I look to the north, eyeing the path that goes up there. Should I go look? Something tells me I might regret it, but… Bah! To hell with it! I'm going.

I go into a comfortable pace that's quick enough that I can get there in a relatively short time. I see rocks, trees and scenery fly past as I run onward, jumping over or stepping round any obstacles in the path. Something feels wrong… oh yes! I still haven't felt any vampires nearby, or far away for that matter. Strange…

I come to a small cliff on the left side of the path. I stop and try to measure the height. Hm… I suppose I can do it. I bend my legs, and then kick off from the ground. I jump up, feeling the air rush by me, and then landing softly on the top of cliff. I see there's a small path here leading off to the west, but I take my eyes off it, and scout to the north instead.

Blast. Of course there should be a hill in the way. The cliff obscured it when I was on the trail. I'm seeing next to nothing from here. I jump back down from the cliff, and make my way towards the hill. I see it emerging as the cliff is left behind. Not that high, really, but high enough to be in the way. I come to a small side-path that I take. It leads to a zigzag path up the hill, but I ignore that and go straight for the top skipping a few holes and obstacles along the way.

I slow down as the top gets nearer, and walk the last few meters up. I first see the mountains coming into view. Then I look down into the ruined remains of another town as they appear, and finally down on a river and an open area right below the hill. The snow lies thicker up here, so only a few of the bigger ruins actually show, and the entire area is blanketed by grey-white powder. The river has frozen, but I can spot a couple of holes here and there, probably made by the Rahabim to be entryways to the upper world. I'm not sure what they would want up here… but they do seem to go anywhere there is water.

I can't feel any of them nearby, which is probably just as well. They can be really annoying at times. There is a bridge crossing the river, but it's in a state of disrepair, though not as bad as I would have expected. I suspect the vampires have arranged to keep it usable, as they can't cross over otherwise. Looks like it's been a while since it was last maintained, but it should be safe to cross.

Looking to the right, I see tall mountains brushing against the layer of clouds and smoke, and I can just make out the Turelim territory beyond them. It's a bit far, but I think I can see one of their infernal machines, belching out smoke to block the sun. Horrible things.

I look over to the left, and there it is. The skull: large, foreboding and embedded in the cliff wall. Just seeing it sends chills down my spine. I almost think I feel whatever's waiting in there watching me, but it's probably just paranoia. But something definitely feels… strange about the entire thing.

I try not to think to hard on it, and instead run down the hillside towards the plain, and suddenly the ground is gone. I feel surprised for a short moment, and then I curl together and brace myself. I hit the ground hands first and use the momentum to do a roll and bounce up on my feet. I skid to a halt and look back. Oh. There was a drop there. I didn't see that. Heh.

I look forward again and start picking up speed, stopping before the bridge. I see the stonework is crumbling. Holes in several places, but none too big to step around or jump over, even for a human. I carefully jog and jump my way over, ending up in front of the ruins. Here, there's no eerie feeling to the air, just a sense of looking to the past. I walk around a little, but I want to move on, so nothing really catches my interest. Senses stretched far, no vampires can be felt. Strange.

I kick at a random stone, sending it flying into a crumbling piece of wall that promptly collapses. Something is wrong. I can feel it. I just don't know what, and it's making me frustrated. I stomp my way out towards the skull in the cliff, but once I come closer, I calm down. It feels like I'm being watched again, and it's creeping me out. I approach carefully, and notice an entrance below the skull.

The main entrance doesn't exactly strike me as the best way to go in, so I look around some more. There–a hole up on the wall. I should be able to jump up there. I get a running start, launch myself up against the hole, make contact with the wall just below, and then use the momentum to claw myself the last meter or so up. The hole is rather big, like something large has been launched through here, so I'm able to stand straight. I look back out. Was it really this high up? Strange.

I walk to the edge and look into the room. It's dark, but not too dark for my eyes. It looks to be decaying slowly. Old tapestries hang in [RA1] shreds, and I see some furniture that is actually less ruined than one should think. They still stand, but it looks like a mere gust of wind would be enough to turn them to dust. There are a few carpet remains on the floor, but there's far from enough left to make out any pattern. I also notice a large rusting axe sticking out from the wall and some rusted spikes near a doorway, indicating these traps had already been triggered long ago and not reset for some reason.

I jump down to the floor, get a feeling that the world suddenly shifts, and my senses go haywire. Vampires. In here. Several. Seventeen, to be more exact. Melchiahim. Whoa. Why didn't I sense them before? They're fairly close too. I should have been able to… it's this place. I'm sure of it. Something here blocked my senses, preventing me from sensing the vampires before I entered. On the upside, there doesn't seem to be anything near the entrance, but this entire place feels sort of… wrong, so it's hard to tell. Let's see… the vampires are over that way, over to the right and a bit further ahead.

I exit this room through the eastern doorway and start making my way slowly ahead so as not to make any noise. Some torches are spread throughout the hallway, but only a few are lit. Vampires don't need much light, and luckily, neither do I. I come to a door going north, and checking the vampires' position again, I go through it. Strange that this door still stands. It looks to be wood, but that would have rotted away, wouldn't it? In fact, everything around seems to be in less decay then in the first room I entered. There's a tapestry over there, that although faded, displays a man and a woman, him standing there in a robe, with a large pointy nose and what looks like an orb mounted into his head. He has an honest smile on under his nose. The woman stands right next to him, wearing a long dress, with long hair going just below her shoulders and a subtle smile on her lips. They look happy together.

A blood-curdling and chilling scream penetrates my ears. It comes from beyond the door. I tear it open, nearly ripping it from its hinges. I run as fast as I can, bouncing off the walls in the two turns I encounter and suddenly find myself on a balcony overlooking a large room. It's got several torches that light it. Although there are some indications this might have been a dining room once, it's very clear what it's used for now. Large boards with straps. Stretching tables. Spikes. Ropes and chains. Blood splatter. Screaming. Two words instantly come to mind: Torture chamber.

My eyes sweep the room and lock on to one scene. A cage with several humans and three Melchiahim standing near a human with its hands tied above its head. Hard to see what gender it is. Oh my God! They're… they're… skinning it. If I could vomit, I know I would have done it right here and now. I hear the other humans whimpering, crying and pleading to be set free. One of them, a woman I think, sticks her arm through the bars. I have no clue why, but I see one of the vampires turn, growls slightly, and then swats her arm. If a human had done that, it would have done little more than hurt a bit, but since the vampire is a lot stronger, the poor woman's arm breaks and she lets out a painful shriek.

I feel my blood start boiling. Rage, outrage and disgust roar in my mind, and without thinking, I pounce towards the vampire trio. I land on one of them, slamming it to the ground and we slide a few meters along the floor. I tear it to shreds, sending limbs and blood every which way, ignoring the terrified screams from the humans and the surprised outcries from the other two vampires.

After I'm done, I turn and glare at the other vampires. They seem unsure what to do, and actually take a step backwards. I grin evilly, get up, and get ready to pounce again. I hear doors slam open and I feel other vampires come running into room, shouting "What's going on?". I leap once more, straighten out and separate the left-most vampire's head from its body. I then twist slightly in the air, take aim, and launch the head against the incoming vampires, hitting one of them square in the face and sending him to the ground. I hear more surprised outcries, and I land and roll to my feet.

I survey the situation briefly, finding that seven of the vampires are still elsewhere in the keep, while eight are now in here. I see the recently downed vampire getting back up, and another grin spreads across my face. The vampires are now more confident, probably due to their increased numbers, and they start advancing on me cautiously, spreading out on a line, probably to circle me, no doubt ready to dodge if I should pounce again. I wonder if they would make it.

I wait till they get slightly closer, and then I leap straight for the one directly in front of me. I see it dodging as I fly towards it, so I reach out in the direction it dodges and manages to get a hold of its arm. I yank the entire vampire with me, and we start swinging around in the air. I hear a tearing sound, and then I'm holding only the arm and the rest of the vampire is flying through the air. I land and spin slightly, and then I turn quickly to see where the vampire ends up. With vicious glee, I see it get impaled through the stomach on one of the wall spikes. It just hangs there fighting to get off, but with only one arm left, it seems impossible.

I feel someone grabbing me by the arms. Blast, I was careless, and gave the others the opportunity to close in on me. Two of them are now holding me very firmly. I struggle to get loose, but they're stronger than I would have thought. I release a roar of frustration, and then I'm hit. Two others have placed themselves in front of me and behind me, and have started punching me with all their might, or at least it feels that way, considering the force behind the punches.

I feel myself get angrier and more frustrated with each blow. I cough up some blood, and I can swear I'm getting warmer by the second. My heartbeat rises continually. And then I feel very calm. I hear someone screaming like they're being tormented, and I'm free. I kick the vampire in front of me, making it double over. I grab its head, pulling it up and I drive my hand through its chest. And then it all goes dark.

I come to again, and I wonder what the hell happened. My heart is racing. A vampire is lying in front of me, chest ripped open. Heart removed. I'm holding something… I look down at my right hand and see the vampire's heart in my hand. I drop it instantly. I look around the room. I see two charred bodies lying close to eachother. Are those the two that held me? They caught fire? But… how? I look around some more, and all the vampires have been slaughtered. I can now sense only five vampires left in the keep, meaning two more must have come in here.

I look at myself as best I can and see I'm more or less covered in blood.

I look over to the humans. Men and women, nine in total, poorly clothed, with blood splattered over them. Human or vampire blood, I wonder. Probably both. They're obviously terrified. Of me. Why not? They see a large, hairless vampire-like creature jump in and slaughter all the vampires in the room. I suddenly feel very sick. What happened? What have I done? Is this really me? The questions keep pouring in. I drag my feet slowly over towards the cage. The humans back away and seemingly try to press themselves through the bars on the other side. This just increases my feeling of sickness. I've become like one of the vampires. A monster. Horrible. Frightening. Ruthless. Or was I always this way, I just didn't realise it until now?

I tear off the cage door. "You're free," I tell them. Nobody moves. I notice the woman who had her arm broken. It's standing at a sickening angle, and she's whimpering in pain, but is probably too scared to do it loudly. I walk over to a wooden table and break off some wood pieces that can be used as splints. I also tear down some rope hanging from the roof, and I start to bring it over to the poor woman. Then I realise she'd probably go crazy if I got too close.

I walk closer until they're practically squeezing their way through the bars again, and then I toss the splinters and the rope over to them. They jump away as if I threw something volatile at them, and they change between staring at me and the splints. "Take care of her arm," I tell them, indicating the hurt woman. "I'll go look for some decent clothes for you." They still don't move, and I sigh inwardly. I go off in hopes that'll make them help the woman at least.

Now let's see. The keep had to have people and servants living here once. And since the place seems to have avoided decay in some way, perhaps there are still intact clothes as well. I know I should probably take these essences, but I'd rather let them go to waste then doing it in front of these people. The last time I did it in front of humans, they didn't react very well. Understandable, I suppose.

I walk out through a random door, and find some stairs spiralling up. I hesitate for a brief second while checking the remaining vampires' positions. Hm? Two of them are coming this way? And they're up these stairs? I really don't feel like fighting now, but I guess I have to protect the humans. I walk up the stairs silently and find a place to hide opposite a door that's left ajar. After a few moments, I hear the vampires' footsteps, and I get ready. As they're passing me, I walk out, lift them up by their necks, kick open the door and carry the vampires inside. Neither has time to do much more than release surprised grunts before I have them pinned against the wall.

I hold them there with telekinesis as I survey the room. A bedroom, it seems. Hm… two beds and four cabinets… I quickly rearrange the beds and cabinets to trap the two vampires before my telekinetic hold on them breaks. I manage it just barely, and I examine the pair more closely.

At first glance they looked alike, but now I see there are differences. The one on my left is shorter, at least as far as I can tell with them behind the beds, but larger, and glares at me hatefully. The one on the right is taller, but lighter built and looks slightly anxious. I catch his eyes for one second, and a glimmer of fear shines within.

I sigh inwardly and wonder why I didn't just kill them. Well, I suppose I should try to get some answers from them while I have them here. "Now you and I are going to have a conversation," I tell them, and grin at them, no matter how hard it is. The right one flinches slightly, but the left one still just glares at me. "We ain't tellin' you nuthin'," it says in a coarse voice. At this comment, I can't help but smile genuinely. Not the best of brains, eh? Fine by me. I see the right one nod slightly, but it doesn't speak.

"This should work brilliantly, then," I say with a small, genuine grin. "And I didn't even have to ask you anything."

The left gets a confused look in its face. "I said we ain't—" it tries again, but I interrupt it.

"Yes, yes. You said you weren't telling me nothing, which means you're going to tell me everything, right?" I say cleverly. The poor vampire thinks so hard I can hear it from here.

"He meant we aren't telling you anything," a slightly softer voice tells me. So the right one speaks too.

I turn to it and can't help but say sarcastically: "Really? I never would have guessed." I see in its eyes that it catches my mood and stops itself from saying any more. For some reason I'm feeling annoyed, but I ignore it and walk a bit away from the vampires before turning and eyeing them both. Left has got its glare back, but Right looks a little more worried, if anything.

"I only want to know two things," I tell them. "Why you're here, in this keep, and why," I grimace, "you were skinning those people downstairs." I don't know much about Melchiahim and their habits, really, but I have a gruesome suspicion about the skinning. "You care 'bout the humans, do ya? You pathetic—"

The next sound that comes out of Left's mouth is a scream of pain as I plunge one claw through its right shoulder. I feel it plough through the tissue and hit the wall. I notice Right yelps a little.

I feel the anger starting to flow again. Where did that come from? I'm not really that mad about this, am I? No… it has to be this place, it's doing something to me. I think… I can also feel viciousness slowly seeping into me as I contemplate the things I would like to do to this creature. But it doesn't feel as bad as I thought it should feel. It feels good, actually…

"Now let's try this again," I say. This time I'm the one glaring. "Yes, I care about the humans. And I want to know why you were skinning them." I use as menacing a tone as I can manage.

"And I told ya, we ain't—" Another scream as I twist my claw around viciously.

"Come on, go easy on yourself," I say plainly. "I'll even let you live." I can feel the vampiric regeneration is working to heal the wound, but my claw is in the way. Of course, this means I can just hurt it more before it dies.

I receive no answer, so I start dragging my claw downwards, cutting through flesh, scraping across bone and generally causing a large amount of pain, which is rewarded by a chilling scream. I guess I struck a nerve. The wound closes behind my claw, but I'm hoping the pain will break it. I stop after a little while, which probably seemed like an eternity to the vampire. At least I hope it did. "Ready to talk now?" I ask.

As Left recovers, I see it gets ready to say something. "Go to h—" I rip my claw downwards and out, leaving a large gash going down towards its stomach. The scream dies down quickly this time, and I understood as I did it that it wasn't the worst I could do, but I felt and still feel frustrated. The gash closes rapidly, and I start planning what to do next.

"Stop it," Right suddenly says, and I'm surprised because I had nearly forgotten it was here. "I'll tell. It's not like it's that important anyway." Left manages to shoot a "Don't you dare" look, but Right either ignores it or doesn't notice it. "We skin humans because we need the skin to keep from falling apart. That's all there is to it." I feel a little sick, but I don't show it. It's what I suspected, or at least something like that. "Now let us go, you said you would."

"Not before you answer my other question," I say.

Right hesitates a little too long before answering, and I can feel the lie coming even before I hear it. "To skin humans," Right tries.

I sigh and raise my blood-covered claw in front of Right's face. "Don't lie to me," I say angrily. "I can tell when you're lying."

"I'm not," he denies. "It's the t—"

And that's all it manages before I twist my claw into its chest. The short scream feels like sweet music to my ears. "I said: Don't lie," I say in a low, menacing tone. "Now tell me the truth."

"I have told y—" Right tries again, but screams instead when I drag my claw down across three of its ribs.

"Try again," I say simply. It looks up at me with a suddenly defiant look.

"No, we swore we—" More sweet screams as I extend another claw into its chest, and then twist them both around. I hear Left struggling to break free, but no luck. I allow myself another grin at the thought.

"Tell me," I say.

Right's defiant look has been replaced with a pleading one. "You don't understand, we'll be killed if we talk about it."

I give him an inquiring look. "Is there anything that makes you think I won't kill you if you don't talk?" I ask.

Right does indeed seem to understand the dilemma it's in, but can't come to an answer. I see its jaw working and I swear I can hear its brain working too, but no sound comes out. As I ponder my next action, I suddenly hear footsteps. "What the hell is going…" a voice starts, but falters as it enters the room. "… on in here?" it slowly finishes.

Damn. I was so engrossed in this, I didn't even feel the remaining vampires approach. Yet here they are, all three of them. They look a little stunned at first, and I just give them a grin before I attack. I withdraw my claws from Right's chest and lunge over to the nearest of the newly arrived vampires, plunging them right through its chest. I pull them back swiftly, letting the vampire fall, and then I grab the other two before they can react, pull them into the air while they yelp and smash them together, head to head. This is rewarded by a nice crunching sound that I follow up by throwing them into the floor. I tear their heads off so they won't get back up.

Before I can stop myself, I've also killed the two trapped vampires. Damn, so much for that interrogation. A rush goes through my head and I suddenly feel very sick. Dear lord, what have I done? I've never been so out of control before. What's happening to me? I also suddenly feel very weak, like I've been running on pure will and now that it's gone, so is my strength. I fall down on one knee, just barely keeping myself from collapsing on my back. Yet my heart is beating so fast, I think it might pound its way out of my chest.

I look around and see all the gore and blood, and it makes me feel rather sick, yet I know what I must do… I've never before felt so sick before I was going to do this, but with so little strength… I have no choice. I straighten my back, and I call the essences to me. They come quickly and pour into me. At first, there's nothing but the sweetness of it, but then the revulsion and sickness floods in and mixes with that I already have. It's too much. I gag, convulse and collapse.

I just lie there trembling and thinking for a while. How did I get so weak? I felt pretty strong when I entered the keep, and I haven't done anything especially taxing… at least I don't think so. What happened during that blackout? What did I do? I can't believe I did anything that drained me this much. Which would mean something else is draining me. Some outside force. Something in this very keep.

I'm not sure how long I lie there, but I notice there's something weird in my head… feels like something tugging at my mind. And it's tugging in the direction the vampires came from. Has that been there all along? I get myself up from the floor and I start walking cautiously in that direction. I move down a hallway, through a room that looks like a study of some sort, and into a room with several doors. The tugging is now stronger and accompanied by a low buzzing sound.

I stand there considering which door to take. No, I know which door to take. I open it and go through. That's weird. How did I know that? I move through something that looks like storerooms, and the buzzing increases. It almost sounds like someone whispering, but I can't make out the words.

Somehow, I seem to know the way, so I just let myself go while I concentrate more on the whispering. It gets slowly louder and louder, and I can now make out one of the words: _Come…_. The word repeats itself many times with more whispering in between. What's that? Something with an s… oh. It's 'us'. I concentrate and I can now hear it: _Come to us._ The sentence keeps repeating itself and gets slowly louder.

I barely notice the rooms and hallways I go through until I enter another larger room. _Come to us._ Very large. Maybe even larger than the torture room was. I stop and look around. It doesn't look like the vampires spent much time here… brilliant chandeliers hang from the roof, tables look like they're still set for dinner or some other meal perhaps. This has to be a feast hall or something, considering the size and layout. There are several doors leading back out of the room, but only one catches my eye. _Yes. Come to us._ A small anonymous door, in ordinary wood, or at least so it seems.

I walk towards it at a normal pace. _Come to us, yes._ I open the door, and see a small hallway inside, leading upwards. I continue and I think I see a door up ahead. _Yes. Come._ I reach the door, and I pause to examine it. It has several unusual markings, but other than that it looks fairly normal. How strange… _Come. Come to us._ I open the door slowly and look inside. It's even darker in there, so even my eyes have trouble seeing, but I can tell it isn't very big. I see a small glow in there, on a table. _Yes._ I step into the room and walk over to the table. The glow comes from a small orb, lying on a pillow on the table.

I pick it up and examine it. It's completely round and smooth. Hm… "_Ah. You came to us, young Daniel. As we knew you would._" I almost drop the orb when the voice comes out and the glow gets brighter, but for some reason I can't. The voice sounds like it's made of many voices, and it has sort of hissing quality. Hard to say if it's light or dark, as it sounds like it's both at the same time. It's also sounds both male and female at the same time, strangely enough. What is this? "_We are the ones who were._" It reads my mind? A light chuckle enters my head. "_Yes, we do._"

I'm almost going to ask it something when I suddenly register what it said. Daniel? Who's Daniel?

"_You are. We know you._"

I'm Daniel? Yes… yes, I am. It sounds right. "Hold on," I say to the orb. "What do you mean you know me? How?"

"_We know much. How is not for you to know._"

I'm almost going to argue on that, but I can feel it's useless. So I try something else. "You are the ones who were… what?" I almost think I hear the light chuckle again before they answer.

"_We are the ones who were before._"

Before what? Even if they read that, they give no answer. "What do you want?"

"_The question, young Daniel, is what you want. And we can give it, to some degree._" I blink. What I want? "_Yes, and we'll give it, if you ask for it._"

I'm unsure what they mean. .

"You'll give me whatever I want, if I just ask for it?"

Yet again the light chuckle. "_No, young Daniel. We'll only give you what you desire the most._"

What I desire the most? What do they mean? How should I know… what I desire the most?

"_Look inside your heart, young one. It'll become clear to you._"

I ponder this for a while. What do I desire the most? Victory? Death? Peace? No… peace of mind… by finding out who I was. And what I am.

"_Yes. Now ask._"

One thing springs to mind. "Why do I have to ask?"

"_Because those are the rules._" Rules? "_There are always rules._"

That last one sounded almost sad. Ok. .

"I want to know who I was and what I am now. Can you help me?"

"_Yes,_" the voice sounds pleased. "_But as we said, only to some degree._"

My heart drops. "What?" I blurt out.

"_We can only show you who you were, not who you are._"

"Why?"

"_Because we don't know all. We will tell you what we know, but one thing at the time._ _First we'll show you who you were._"

And with that, I'm shown. The images, the memories, the knowledge, it flows into me and through me. So much, so fast. Too much, too fast. My family. My village. My first job. School. Serra. Oh God. I scream.

Then I notice it has stopped. I have also fallen to my knees in front of the table. I'm clutching the orb so hard I'm would have broken it had it been glass.

"_Your life has been given back to you. Or at least the memories of it._"

I'm unable to speak, so I just think it. Thank you.

"_You're welcome, young Daniel. It will seem fuzzy at first, but it will come back into order after a little time._" A sigh sounds weird when it's in your head. "_Now for the rest. We don't really know who or what you have become. All we know is you're somehow connected to the land itself, but you're still outside._" I try to speak, but I still can't. Outside? "_It's hard to explain. We can't say more. Now go, young Daniel, we believe you have to rescue some humans, still. You will find clothes for them in the storerooms you passed. There should also be some food that's still edible due to the keep's magic._"

Something still gnaws at my mind. My voice has recovered enough so I can speak. "You're just giving me this? Free?"

Another chuckle. "_We already got what we wanted. Now go. Before the humans try to get out on their own._" I get up, put the orb back on the table and walk out.

"_Good bye, young Daniel. And good luck._"

I quickly get back to the storerooms, and sure enough, I find lots of clothes there, and food. Winter clothes put away for the summer, or just extra clothing? I grab as much as is needed and a little more, just in case. I also take along a barrel of water and a box of cups. I make my way back to the humans with the clothes and food strapped to my back with some rope I found in the last storeroom, and the barrel and box carried in front of me. They still don't seem to have moved. How long was I gone?

"Here," I say as I put the stuff down outside the cage. "Get dressed and take some food, but if it's been a while since you ate or drank last, eat and drink slowly, or you'll just throw up." They look at me with wonder in their eyes while I open the barrel and box and untie the straps around the food and clothing. One of them, a man somewhere in his thirties, manages to say weakly: "What?"

"I'm taking you out of here," I say. "We need to move quickly before more vampires arrive, though. Come on, I'll show you the way." They just look at me, clearly not believing their own eyes and ears.

I sigh inwardly, then turn around and walk a couple of steps, before I look back at them. "Are you coming?" I ask, trying to get them started. Slowly they start stirring, and no wonder, as they probably feel the cold and hunger more acutely with food and clothes in front in them. It's only one at first, the man that actually spoke earlier, but after the others see him taking a bite of a bread and not dying on the spot, they come slowly and cautiously out of the cage to get something to eat. Bread, fruit, dried meat, it all goes down. The barrel gets close to empty pretty fast. They wrap themselves in enough clothing to survive a blizzard. Maybe it's what they'll need to do.

After a little while, I cough politely to get their attention again. They all turn their heads to look at me. "I'm sorry to interrupt," I tell them calmly. "But we really need to get going. I'm not sure how long we'll be safe here." They look at each other a moment and then back at me.

"Where are you going to take us?" a young woman, maybe in her late twenties, asks me.

"Do you have a village, town or stronghold I can follow you to?" I ask back. Sad looks and shaking heads is the answer I receive. "I'm sorry," I say honestly. "I know a village I can take you to, but it's a fair walk from here. I don't know of anything closer, though."

They seem a little heartened by this, actually. "We can manage to walk a little," a man who looks to be in his early twenties tells me. "It's not like we have much of a choice, is it?" he finishes with a small smile.

I look at them all and think that I can actually get them safe. I can't help but smile myself. "Ok," I say. "Let me just go and get some more provisions for our trip. I'm sure they'll be needed." I quickly find my way back to the storage rooms and grab more food and another barrel of water. This is the first time I use my powers to be a mule. The thought makes me smile again. I secure the food to my back once more and carry the water in front of me. When I get back to the humans, they're all ready to go.

I then remember the poor woman who got her arm broken. I find her and ask her if she needs any help.

"I'm fine," she says dismissively. "I made a sling for my arm," she says and shows me the sling.

"Just let me know if you need any help," I tell her. "The same goes for the rest of you. If you need any help at all, let me know, and I'll do what I can." I say in a louder voice. They all nod. "Now let's go," I say and start walking. They follow after me and I make sure I walk at a pace they can keep up with.

It doesn't go fast, but we get outside, and I get the feeling the world shifts again. It's still day. Or maybe day again? I'm not sure. We walk away from the keep slowly, wading through the knee-high snow. Since I go first, I make a path that makes it easier for the people to follow.

We reach the village ruins and start to make our way through them. I hear a rumbling sound behind us and turn around to check it out. As I watch, the keep starts crumbling and falling apart. The skull falls down to the ground and a large hole is left in the mountainside. Sad. I shake my head and turn forward again.

"Who are you, anyway?" I hear a woman's voice ask me. I turn my head and see it was the woman two places behind me who asked.

"Me? I'm Daniel," I say simply, and then continue walking.

A/N: And that's another chapter finished. I'll hopefully be able to update more often in the time to come. Time will tell. Not too many chapters left now either. I estimate somewhere between 5 and 10. If anyone has any input on this, please let me know. I apologise yet again for the long wait and hope you won't hate me for all time.

PS! I hope you like the name I chose.

* * *


	9. A New Champion?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in or around Legacy of Kain

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in or around Legacy of Kain. That honour belongs to Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Interactive.

A/N: And here it is, finally. It's been what? Three years? I've been writing on and off, and in the end it became just one chapter. But I got to the end I wanted, and at least it will stand as finished. I don't even know if any of the people I used to read from, and who read from mine are still around, but we'll see how it goes. I wrote the review responses pretty early on, so I'm just letting them stand as is, even though those who wrote the reviews might never read the response. Anyways, enjoy.

_Smoke:_ Well, I suppose it was a bit long, and now I'll feel obligated to write the following chapters at least as long. I do know how to mess it up for myself. The simple explanation to why he wasn't with the humans is because he went off exploring. He's getting back to them. I hope you readers aren't getting too confused with me skipping a bit of time between each chapter. And I second the name thing. I don't think I'll do any more nameless characters. It was a bit weird. The RA1 is comments from my proofreader that I didn't know I had to remove before posting, but I did afterwards. is weird, though, so it might have taken a while to correct completely. As for your final question, I'm keeping the answer to myself, for now. Maybe I'll do a Q&A chapter after I'm finished.

_Lunatic Pandora1:_ Glad you like it. I've known a couple of Daniels myself, but none of them resemble this one. I think Raziel was influencing me unconsciously to pick a name ending in 'iel'. :P

**Chapter 9: A New Champion?**

What a weird night. I was dreaming again. All my memories seem to mix in strange ways when I sleep. The one where my mother turns into that horse… makes me shiver.

I get up slowly. Getting my memories back has resulted in several headaches, one of which is banging in my skull right now. Blech. I hope they go away after it all settles in. Hm… something feels different today, but I'm not sure what. Maybe I've changed some more? I look down at myself, but I can't see anything that has changed. Maybe the mirror will reveal more.

I drag myself over to the mirror while my head is still pounding. Ugh. Every step is hard. I look to the floor and massage my temples as best I can. It doesn't really help, but it's good to at least try to do something. Ah, finally here. I raise my head to check for changes, and… I have hair. I have hair! What? When? Where? Huh? I'm confused, how… how can I have hair? I'd long since gotten used to being bald, so this… this is quite a shock. I didn't really think much of it… but now I have hair.

It's not much, just some stubble, but still… it's hair! Not really enough to determine the colour, other than it looks to be dark. Wow. But but… what does this mean? I guess this explains why my head has been itching lately. I thought it was some more memories stirring, but it seems I was wrong.

Hm… at the moment it doesn't really seem to improve my looks. It's so short it doesn't really look like anything yet. Well, I'll just wear my cloak until it grows some more. I walk over to the one item of clothing I have. One of the villagers gave it to me when I came with the people I freed in the keep. It's quite nice, and it seems to fit me very nicely. I wonder if it was made especially for me?

I had actually thought about asking for something like it, since I could tell that several, maybe everyone from the village were more or less uncomfortable with the way I look. Not that I can blame them. This way it becomes easier to walk among them. I pull the cloak around me, but before I put the hood over my head, I run a hand across my scalp. It really is there. I pull the hood up and walk outside.

Midwinter has passed, and the snow seems to be slowly retreating again. Of course, the wind that's currently blowing helps speed up things. It's all blowing north and melting away as it reaches Turel's lands. The vampires have been calm the last week, though. I haven't detected anything nearby for at least eight days. Maybe they have been busy on other fronts?

I don't really mind though. After the keep, I've felt strangely sated. I must admit that kind of worries me. Some of what happened there, I still can't remember, and I haven't felt like asking the people. It would be anything but fair to make them think of that again.

I walk along slowly, making my way towards the village, silently listening to the snow crunching beneath my feet. It all seems so very peaceful, and I could almost start to believe it is. I used to like this when I was a child too, just walking in the snow and listening. It's nice to remember my childhood. I can't remember all of it, I didn't expect that either, but I feel like I remember as much as I should remember, if that makes any sense.

Of course, the conversation with that… thing, whatever it was, has been a lot on my mind. I still wonder exactly what it, or maybe they, meant when it said it already had gotten what it wanted. Even just thinking about it gives me a bad feeling. I push those thoughts aside as I notice the village gate appearing before me.

I slowly approach the gate and raise a hand in greeting.

"Is something wrong?" one of the guards calls down to me. They always seem to worry that I might come with bad news. I am still impressed that they're able to recognize me, even with the cloak. I look up to see the guard that called down to me. Yes, I thought it was Peter.

"No," I call back. "I just wanted to visit and see how things are going." Peter's head disappears back behind the gate, and after a while (they always seem to have a discussion whenever I want to come in) the small door in the gate opens and I'm let through. Sammael gives me a dirty look as I pass him, but then he's never trusted me for a moment. Can't say I really blame him, though.

As I come into the village itself a small group of children, between the ages of 7 and 11, I'd guess, come running, but get a disappointed look as soon as they see me. I can't help but smile. I guess they were hoping to see me without the cloak. I notice that they aren't going away, though. Maybe they think I'll take the cloak off eventually. Well, I guess it's nice that not everyone is afraid of me.

I still think it's amazing to just walk here and look around. From what I remember, my own village never even got to half this size. This is almost like a town. I still haven't quite been able to remember where my village was, though… but I think it was somewhere to the south-west of here. I do of course fear that the vampires have raided it. I haven't gathered the courage to start asking about it yet.

Several people look up when I pass, but most just go about their business after they've seen whom it is. Some of them go inside their houses, lock their doors and shut their windows, though. That's the ones who don't trust me. I understand them, but it still hurts.

I walk up a small hill that's near the back of the village. There's actually a tree on top of the hill, and when it's snow-covered like now, it's actually rather pretty. I've never dared to climb it, though, as I fear it might fall apart. I sit down near the base of the tree and just look around. It's very calming to see people just going about their business. I even see a couple of the people I rescued at the keep. One of them notices me as well and gives me a friendly wave. I wave back and continue looking.

I consider pulling off my hood, but because of the hair stubs, I decide not to. As I sit there, my thoughts start swirling about and I notice the headache is returning. I close my eyes and start rubbing my temples as I try to sort out the mess of thoughts in my head. It's almost like a puzzle; I just need to find where the pieces fit, but that seems to be easier said than done.

As I sit there contemplating and idly watching the stream of people go by, noises filter through my head. Average sounds from normal life, something I can sit here and watch, and maybe even fool myself that I can fit into all this too, but deep down I know that will never be the case. No matter how grateful they are to me, I still look like a monster, and behave as a monster too, in their eyes. So even if they accept me as their protector and ally, they'll never accept me as one of them.

Hm… what's this? These sounds don't fit into the normal background noise. It's coming from somewhere near the entrance. Something has people excited or frightened or both, maybe? I get up, and run over towards an alley. Wall-jumping quickly gets me to the rooftops where it's easier to move at a fast pace. I spot a crowd of people at the gates and I drop down in an alley close to them and then walk over.

It's only some of the regular traders, it seems. But something has them worked up, so I move closer to hear what they're saying.

"-simply disappeared then reappeared somewhere else, they say. Like a ghost!" one of them says excitedly and the crowd starts buzzing with noise. I look to one of guards watching; Ammir, and I ask what's going on.

"Well, it would seem you have a fellow vampire slayer out there. Apparently there's a blue angel running around with the ability to disappear and reappear at will. He hides his face in a cloak with a mystical symbol on it, and his glowing blue eyes are all you can see of him." He chuckles. "Sounds like a bunch of hogwash and fairy tales to me, but apparently this 'angel' has attacked the Melchiahim territory. I don't know about that, but if it's true that someone is finally taking the fight to the other vampire lords, like it was done to Dumah, it's all good news to us."

I thank him, and then walk away as I ponder this new rumour. Could it be true? I had to go see for myself. I'd better let the guard captain know of my departure first, though. He always gets nervous if I just disappear. After letting him know and getting a gruff dismissal, I head out. I start running west.

I pass through hills and valleys, making sure to avoid the vampires I sense along the way, until I can feel a solitary vampire. A Melchiahim. Well, well, isn't this a lucky coincidence? Maybe it can provide some answers, or if not, at least the world will be short one more vampire. I redirect my course to intercept it.

I see a formation of rocks on top of a hill, and the vampire standing next to it. That's odd. Why would it be out in the open like that when it's alone? Is it one of the senior ones? A quick look dismisses that. It looks like just a fledgling. Which makes this whole thing even more odd. It seems to be staring at the rocks for some reason. I approach quickly but silently.

A breeze flows across the land and rustles a clump of dead grass sitting by the rocks. I manage to get all the way up to the vampire without alerting it, and I quickly grab it and overpower it; forcing it to the ground. I resist my urge to kill it.

"Hello there. I though we could have a little chat," I say.

"Who? What? You!" it says would a voice filled with rage, fear and oddly enough sadness.

"Oh, so you've heard of me. What do you know, here I was heading for your lands, and then I suddenly find you all alone out here. Talk about lucky me, huh?"

The vampire chuckles. "Well, you're too late, hunter. My lord is dead, and so is everyone there."

I feel puzzled. "What do you mean? Who did it?"

"I don't know. I wasn't there. Or I'd be dead as well. But I felt my lord die, and when I tried contacting the others at the keep, I got no answer. They were all gone." It actually sounds sad.

"And why are you telling me this?" I ask.

"Because it doesn't matter any more. Maybe I'm hoping you'll take pity on me and kill me, or just kill me anyway. I see no reason to continue my existence. I was considering throwing myself in the river." It says with grim honesty.

I grant it its wish and end its life, if life it can be called. I absorb its essence bitterly, and keep running to the west. So it was more than just rumours. I'd have to investigate this for myself. Racing through the hills I saw little worth looking, though as I approached the keep I altered my course to get another look at it.

As I come over a hill, I spot the skull lying there. The hole in the cliff-wall makes me a little sad, thinking how grand the place must have looked back in the days it was used. I can't help but wonder who lived there, though. Maybe the couple I saw on the tapestry? And that orb… is it still in there? I can't feel anything, but I'm a bit off, so…

I shrug. There's no time to check it out now, and I'd rather not go back there anyhow. I continue in the direction of Melchiah's keep. I dodge around a couple of groups of vampires, but as I get closer to the keep itself, I sense that the presence of vampires is dropping. As I stop at the gates, I can no longer feel anything.

The place is covered in blood and ash. Almost like when I have been through an area. But this… I could never have managed something on a scale such as this. I wonder who did it, and how many they were, and if… and if they were like me. I make my way inwards to look for any sort of clue as to what has happened and where the attackers went.

Oddly enough I find a small lake, or pond, in the middle of the courtyard. Strange thing to have in a vampire's keep, then again it might have been the only keep available for Melchiah. As reach the corridors, I still see nothing except blood and ash. Banners have been torn down, spears are sticking out of piles of ash in the floor, and spikes on the wall are covered in blood.

I find a way leading down, and I jump in. I make my way towards a room, or more correctly towards a dungeon. With a torture chamber, it would seem. I see that the spike crusher in the centre has been lowered, and that there is a large amount of blood and ash underneath. Something tells me this was the chamber of Melchiah himself… and that what is underneath that crusher is all that's left of him.

I make my way out of the place. I'm still baffled by the sheer size of the slaughter. And slaughter I will call it. These vampires had about as much chance as a snowball in Turel's lands. Trying to find some trail after the attackers seems futile. I'll just have to return to the village and wait for rumours about the next place that is attacked. If they managed to take down one lieutenant this easily, they're sure to try for another.

I make haste back to village, not wanting to miss out on anything. I race back the same way I raced there, weaving through the hills and avoiding any vampires I sense. Maybe I should kill off some of them, but I'm too impatient to even take the time to do that. Judging by the blood I saw, I was there an hour or two after the attackers had done their work. Maybe they'll wait before they strike next, or maybe they'll go straight for their next target, be it Rahab, Turel or Zephon.

On my way back I encounter some humans. Hunters. I decide to stop and ask them if they have heard anything of the attackers that went after Melchiah, but before I get so much as a word out, they start telling about how one of them saw a blue angel stabbing one of Zephon's brood with a glowing sword and entering the Silent Cathedral. A blue angel? Again I hear that description. Could it really be? Has the fury of the heavens descended upon this mad land?

I thank them for their help, and turn about, making as swift a route as possible towards the cathedral. As I race along, it strikes me that I am not sensing as many vampires as is usual. I am not able to ponder this for long this. As I approach the cathedral, I see the smoke first. I climb on top of a hill and look down into the valley where it sits. Stone cannot burn, but something has clearly burned quite recently inside the cathedral. Something big too, considering the amount of smoke.

I sprint, and I can sense already that the cathedral is absolutely empty. There are some Zephonim not far from here, but they seem to be fleeing, in the direction of the Sanctuary. I find an entrance through an open window, and look inside, but there is too much smoke to make anything out clearly. The only thing that's clear is that the place is devoid of any form of vampiric life. Could this possibly be the work of a single creature? A lone angel?

My head is filled with questions as I jump down to the ground again, and I try to figure out where the attackers, or attacker, would go next. The most logical place would be Rahab's lands... the Drowned Abbey. Going after Turel will probably be the hardest, so I would guess that would be saved for last. Plus the Abbey is not far from here, while Turel's little kingdom is quite a ways to the north. I leave the ruined cathedral behind me and race out towards the Abbey.

Hunger is starting to claw at me, probably because of all this running, but I know I can still go on further without any sustenance. It still would be a good idea to stop if I encounter any vampires. In not too long, my prayers are answered as I stumble upon a pair of Dumahim, and I quickly slay them and drain them. The delay was probably not more than a minute, but I still don't feel like hanging around, and start running again.

As I reach the Abbey, I can already see signs of intrusion, and the vampires I can feel inside, vanish from my senses one by one, leading towards the much more powerful presence at the centre of the Abbey. I quickly make my way towards it, hoping to overtake the attacker. I need to find out who this blue angel is, and how he makes a vampire turn to ashes. Like I do.

I go from rooftop to rooftop, staying above the water, as I can sense the vampires still dwelling down there, too many to confront. I spot the central building, and leap over. I can hear someone inside, and I crawl up to one of the tinted windows to look inside, and hopefully hear better.

The glass is very murky, so I can barely make out some shapes, but at least I am finally starting to catch the conversation.

"-emous tongue," a catch a rumbling voice spitting out in contempt.

"What more did he tell you?" a softer, but still dangerous, voice inquires with quite obvious disrespect. I guess the rumbling voice would be Rahab, but the other... and who are they talking about.

"That you would destroy me," the deep voice answers, and my eyes go wide. Despite the contempt, Rahab seems to accept this as a fact.

"I will, indeed," the smaller figure answers. "But tell me, before I tear your soul from its moorings, do you know what we were before Kain spawned us?" Kain? Us? Is this 'angel' another of Kain's soldiers? I have to hold that line of thought to catch the rest of the conversation.

"Human," I can hear Rahab spit out maliciously. Well, not too big a surprise there, though it is hard to consider these huge monsters as something that was once human. Then again, others might feel the same about me.

"Sarafan, Rahab. The antithesis of all we ever believed," the 'angel' says with apparent bitterness. I have no clue who or what a sarafan was, or is, either, so I just keep listening.

"Does it matter? We were lost. He saved us," Rahab replies with conviction.

"Saved us? From what?" I hear the 'angel' demand.

"From ourselves," the large vampire says matter-of-factly before he lunges at the angel. It jumps away, I catch something glowing coiled around the arm, and I hear the sound of glass shattering. Suddenly the window in front of me shatters too, and whatever it was that hit it, knocks me back, and I fall into the water while I drift into unconsciousness.

I wake up some time later. No clue how long I was out. I am at the bottom of the water. Undisturbed, I think... I feel no one around me. No wait, there are someone, but they're pretty far away. They are coming this way though, so maybe I should move.

Crouching together, I turn myself upwards, and kick off with my legs, giving me a boost that lets me quickly and easily reach the surface. Looking around, things seem normal. No sign of the vampires that belong here, nor of the 'angel' intruder. I get to the shore, and crawl out, letting the water pour off of and out of me. There is no great secret where the attacker would go next. Turel, the sole remaining vampire lord apart from Kain himself.

As soon as I get to my feet, I start running, and head directly for the blasted area that holds Turel's furnaces and stronghold. With any luck, the blue 'angel' has cleared a path I can follow, as I never relish the opportunity to fight the Turelim. They are strong, fast and cunning.

I cover the distance fairly quickly, and get there in just under an hour. I stand at the edge of the poisoned earth and gaze northwards. It still seems undisturbed, so maybe I got here ahead of the 'angel'? Or maybe he's already been here and gone. I suppose there's only one way to find out.

The further I get, the more I suspect that the attacker has not been here yet. The patrols seem to be walking around normally, in about as high numbers as usual, with no path of destruction carved towards the stronghold. It is possible that the 'angel' himself went for the stealthy approach, since I'm sure the Turelim would be no piece of cake even for him

I am unsure how long it takes me to weave through the patrols and defences, but I do reach the fortress in the end. I only had to silence two of the blasted vampires on the way, too. I have little trouble finding entrance though, as my wall-crawling easily gets me in a window. From what I can tell, the fortress itself seems fairly deserted, but... I don't know. Something feels off... wrong... but it's hard to tell what.

With what might seem like excessive care, I proceed deeper into the fortress, encountering no one. Wait... there is something behind this door. I consider my options, then burst through the door and crash right into a Turelim champion. He seems to be even more surprised than me, though, so I react swiftly by plunging my claws in and ripping his heart out. The fledglings in the room, that I hadn't noticed until now, pounce on me, but even though it's three against one, I have little trouble dispatching them.

When I roll out of their way, they crash together, and I swiftly tear open the neck of the closest one. As the blood spurts and it crashes to the ground, the other two approach me warily, trying to get to my sides. I don't let them, and instead pounce on the one to the right, and while it dodges, I managed to grasp its arm and tear it off at the socket. I use it to beat the one-armed vampire over the head, poking one of its eyes out with its own claw before I follow up with my own arm and take its head off. The last one tries to run, but I vault over it and extend my spinal blade, cutting it from groin to head.

After the carnage is done, I take a small break to calm my racing heart before I absorb the essence from all four vampires, turning them brittle and making them crumble into dust. Right now it feels weird how used I've gotten to this. I can hardly sense the nausea any longer. If that is good or bad, I cannot say.

I run my claws through the stubble on my head, and decide to move on. I have a strange feeling about the door across from the one I entered, but my curiousity outweighs my caution. I am not sure exactly how deep I've gotten now, due to the strange and confusing atmosphere in here, but I still stride over to the door and push it open. The room on the other side seems large and spacious. I carefully step inside, and suddenly the door slams shut behind me.

"So, the lost brother ret-" a deep rumbling voice exclaims, before cutting off. "You... are not him... who are you!?"

I strive to search for an answer when something steps out of the shadows. Huge. Monstrous. With a jaw unlike any I have ever seen, and ears larger than some houses, it steps towards me on all fours.

"Answer!! No... it does not matter... for soon you will be dead!"

A force like I've felt before, but so much more powerful picks me up and throws me into the wall. I hear something crack, though in my pain it's hard to tell if it was the stone or my bones. I quickly roll to my feet though, and manage to dive to the side just as a pair of razors-sharp claws lunge for me.

I try to assess the situation, but I have no idea how to fight something this size and strength. I figure the best way would be to go for the head, so I make another roll to the side, and fire a bolt of telekinetic energy in the monster's face, and then jump onto its back, and go for the head.

But something grabs me, and throws me to the ground. I feel something raking across my chest, cutting deep into my body, and my precious life essence starts seeping out. I am dazed, unable to move, and barely hear the monster talking.

"So weak. They are all so weak! I will end you now, little i- what? What is going on? No! You can't... I will... not... go... rrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrr!"

I vaguely sense that the monster's presence vanishes as things start to go dark on me. The pain... excruciating... but even that... is fading... who knew... darkness could be so... comforting... I... feel free...

...

It has begun.


End file.
